Dodgers 3 Cardinals 4: 16 INNINGS

The Dodgers fell to the Cardinals thanks to a blown save that turned the ball game into a 16 inning battle.

The Dodgers had a run after five pitches. Michael Wacha’s third pitch of the game was doubled down the line by Chase Utley, and Corey Seager singled him home three pitches later. After three days off, it looks like Seager can still hit (4-7) and his career will probably not be ruined by the home run derby.

Never forget. Also never Nightengale. Wacha is fine. But I think the Dodgers are happy with their draft decision.

Wacha did get out of the inning without any more damage, which gave the Cardinals a chance to take the lead in the third. Jedd Gyorko (apparently he’s on the Cardinals?) had an 11-pitch walk to lead off the third and was replaced at first on a fielders’ choice. Wacha failed to get a bunt down, but Tommy Pham walked to put two on with two outs. Aledmys Diaz singled to center to score a run, and Joc Pederson had some trouble with it in center, which allowed both runs to score and Diaz to get to second. McCarthy got out of the inning, but the Dodgers were down 2-1.

Howie Kendrick entered the game on a 13-game hitting streak and left men on base in each of his first two at bats (fly ball and strikeout). In his third, he unloaded an opposite field dinger over the short wall in right for his sixth of the season and his 14th straight game with a hit. The Dodgers had a chance to take the lead in the sixth after the tying homer, but McCarthy and Utley left runners on second and third.

McCarthy was wonderful once again today. He allowed the one earned run and one unearned run, but through six he only allowed one hit and was at 75 pitches. He got some flack after a really strange handful of starts last year (think I remember seeing some tweets/comments saying he was a huge fail of a signing). He shouldn’t be expected to keep up this pace, but in a market where Mike Leake got 5/$80M and Ian Kennedy got 5/$70M, McCarthy at 4/$48M is stellar if he can stay healthy.

McCarthy got the first out of the seventh before issuing a walk. He missed on his first pitch to Yadier Molina and the trainer went out to check on him. He left the game, but everything looked like a straight up cramp, which given the Dodgers injury woes this season is the best case scenario. He threw 85 pitches, which is seven more than he had thrown in a start this year. That plus the heat in STL probably made for an uncomfortable outing, but he only allowed one hit in 6+ innings and has continued to look like a huge boost to the rotation.

The Dodgers almost blew the lead after McCarthy was pulled, after Adam Liberatore gave up a weak infield single. He gave up a well-hit ball up the middle, but Utley was in the right position. He tried to step on second to force the final out, but didn’t think he had enough time. So he threw to first, where Adrian Gonzalez was not standing as he was in a little getting ready for the cutoff. Gonzo luckily caught the ball, but wasn’t on the base so the runner was safe and the bases were loaded. However, Liberatore got a ground out to escape and avoid setting a record for the absolute Cardinal Devil Magic-est thing to ever happen.

The Dodgers offense was a problem once again (and not in a good way). They had 13 hits, which is great. However, they left 11 on base, which is a very bad thing. It should not be a 2-2 game in the ninth inning when one team has 13 hits and the other team has four.

Next: Are the Dodgers Targeting Chris Archer?

Justin Turner had two atrocious plate appearances in the game, grounding into a double play on the second pitch he saw in the fifth and popping out on the first pitch he saw in the seventh. He got an opportunity in the ninth after Seager made his first out of the game, and hit Seung Hwan Oh’s pitch out to dead center to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.

It looked all good as Kenley Jansen got two quick outs in the ninth, but Gyorko hit a homer to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Jansen missed his location bad, Gyorko did not miss the pitch, and it was headed to extras.

Grant Dayton made his major league debut in tonight’s extra inning effort. The 28 year-old left handed pitcher was drafted by the Marlins in the 11th round during the 2010 MLB Draft. Dayton was acquired by the Dodgers on July 15, 2015 in exchange for Chris Reed. Since then he has spent his time between Double A and Triple A in the Dodgers farm. He took the mound in the bottom of the eleventh inning with the score still tied at 3. After seven minor league seasons, Dayton got his first major league out when Matt Holliday grounded out. Through the heart of the Cardinals order, Dayton got them to go 1-2-3 in his first major league three outs.

Going into the 12th inning, the Dodgers had left 11 men on base and had 13 hits on the evening. Once again, getting runners home seamed to be almost impossible for the club.

Dodgers got their first base runners in extras in the 12th inning when Grandal walked and Austin Barnes was put in to pinch run for him. Pederson put down a good bunt to move Grandal over to second and Scott Van Slyke came up with one out. Van Slyke grounded out and Yasiel Puig popped up. The struggles continue with men in scoring position for the boys in blue.

Barnes doubled in the 15th inning to shallow center with two outs. The Cardinals requested a replay, but the call stood as safe. Pederson came up to the plate, with the go ahead run on second and two outs. Pederson popped up and the game was heading to the bottom of the 15th. Dodger starter Bud Norris came in to pitch the bottom of the 15th inning. He did not do his side work earlier today which meant he was available. Norris also has come out of the pen before, so this was not the first time he has faced this challenge. Norris worked his way out of a lead off double to send the game into the 16th inning.

In the words of Joe Davis, “Let’s all go to the 16th inning and get weird”. In the bottom of the 16th inning, the game would finally have its outcome. Matt Adams hit his 11th home run of the season against Norris.

The Dodgers fall in 16 innings, but the Giants lost today as well. The Dodgers are still holding at four games back in the NL West.