Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After what was quite frankly a depressing start to the Cardinals series and the month of September, the Dodgers managed to find a way to make it worse today.
While the offense put runs on the board via homers from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, their cornucopia of missed chances throughout the night only continued to frustrate when Yoshinobu Yamamoto faltered late and Tanner Scott blew the slim lead. They then continued to miss chances en route to a 1-for-18 showing with RISP and Shohei Ohtani looking as unhealthy as he has all year, as Brock Stewart got knocked around in extras for an 8-6 loss.
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The bats of the Dodgers got a bit of a reprieve today as the Cardinals basically ran out of starters and had to run a pen game.
The offense started with a Shohei Ohtani walk and Tommy Edman getting hit on a pitch, and with one down it was Freddie Freeman hitting his 16th homer of the year and first since July 4th. That was good for three and an early 3-0 Dodgers advantage.
Freddie Freeman's first home run since July 4 is a three-run shot for an early lead. https://t.co/lrNeNgHllL pic.twitter.com/jQ0vOJS9q6
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
A double and walk immediately followed that, and they also got a two-out walk to load the bases, but the rally ended there in the 1st. The stranded runners would unfortunately become a theme.
After a HBP to start the 2nd, a stolen base with two outs and a walk followed, but that went for nothing. Similar for a one-out single and steal in the 3rd, a two-out double and walk in the 4th, and a lead-off single and steal in the 5th.
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As all this was going on, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was thankfully rolling along early.
He actually faced the minimum through five no-hit innings, as a lead-off walk to start the 3rd was erased by a double play.
Guess he's just 98 MPH now when he wants to go up for a K. pic.twitter.com/tVLTvmt3rU
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
Back-to-back high fastballs for whiffs then using the whole clock to make him wait before dropping a split on the black. pic.twitter.com/J5lJ67XwTc
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
He also got help with back-to-back webgems from Miguel Rojas to start the 4th.
Miguel Rojas with a full extension diving stop plus replays. pic.twitter.com/K0IwdsmneP
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
Miggy has an inning, ranging over to the shortstop side of the bag for another gem. https://t.co/vpVxShuthJ pic.twitter.com/gxiAumLJck
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
All those vibes ended abruptly in the 6th, as a lead-off single was soon followed by a Thomas Saggese two-run homer out of nowhere to make it a one-run game. 3-2 Dodgers just like that.
Thomas the Tank Engine! pic.twitter.com/OBFxj6XM4t
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 3, 2026
Yamamoto allowed just a two-out walk after, but the damage was done.
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Thankfully, the Dodgers came right back in the 6th, as a one-out Tommy Edman single was followed by a two-run homer from Mookie Betts. His 17th restored the three-run lead at 5-2 Dodgers.
Mookie stays relatively hot, restores the two-run lead with a homer. pic.twitter.com/StPTWRNjHr
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2026
They tried to rally again after that, with a single and a hit batter, but double play killed off that chance as well.
Unfortunately, that cushion didn’t last long.
Yamamoto came back out for the 7th, gave up a lead-off double and then another two-run homer, this time to Leonardo Bernal to make it 5-4 Dodgers.
FIRST BIG LEAGUE HOME RUN FOR LEO BERNAL! ? pic.twitter.com/kX4cBivvHN
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 3, 2026
He gave up just a two-out single the rest of the way, but again, what looked like a potential no-hitter ended up being one of his worst starts by runs allowed: 7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 93 Pitches.
First out of the pen for the Dodgers was Tanner Scott in the 8th, and he continued his recent struggles, giving up a lead-off double, which was advanced to third on a groundout, and then came home on a sac fly from Nate Burleson to tie the game at 5-5.
At least the bleeding stopped there, I guess, and Jack Dreyer then got a clean 9th.
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Meanwhile, the Dodger offense got lead-off and one-out singles in the 7th, but those were stranded as well, then a one-out walk was erased by a double play in the 8th. Still, they had a chance at a walk-off in the 9th, and did get a one-out double from Teoscar Hernandez (his third hit of the night) and two-out wild pitch, but a Will Smith pinch-hit drive to right-center fell a foot short at the track.
BONUS BASEBALL
For whatever reason, Edgardo Henriquez wasn’t used again, and it was Brock Stewart in the 10th. Things didn’t start well with single that cornered the runners with nobody out, then an infield single Saggese poked to the right scored the go-ahead run. Joshua Baez then followed with a two-run double down the line in left to make it 8-5 Cardinals.
JOSHUA BÁEZ COMES UP BIG! pic.twitter.com/OBg9hZJRmp
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 3, 2026
That was “all”.
For the Dodgers, a wild pitch and a groundout scored the Manfred Runner to make it 8-6 Cardinals, but that was it.
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It’s hard not to think of Dustin’s article about Ohtani’s health when he’s taking swings like this:
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| NL Seeding | Record | GB |
| Brewers | 87-53 | – |
| Braves | 83-57 | 4.0 |
| Dodgers | 82-57 | 4.5 |
The series concludes tomorrow at the same time of 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET with Tarik Skubal on the bump against Quinn Mathews.
