LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo delivered a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
After Willson Contreras got a leadoff single off new Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart (2-2), pinch-runner Garrett Hampson eventually scored on a soft single to right by Pozo. The Cards’ backup catcher celebrated enthusiastically after just his second hit in his last eight games.
Sonny Gray yielded one hit over seven stellar innings for the Cards, and two relievers combined on a perilous three-hitter for St. Louis.
Riley O’Brien (1-0) earned his first career victory at 30 years old despite blowing a lead in the eighth. JoJo Romero then got his second save despite giving up a leadoff single to Shohei Ohtani, retiring Max Muncy on a line drive to right with two on for the final out.
Gray had an entertaining duel with Tyler Glasnow, who gave up three hits in seven innings of one-run ball for Los Angeles.
Iván Herrera hit a two-out homer in the eighth for St. Louis, but Teoscar Hernández doubled and scored the tying run on two groundouts in the bottom half for LA.
Masyn Winn ended his 32-game homer drought in the Cardinals’ third victory in nine games.
Freddie Freeman homered for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who fell to 7-9 since the All-Star break with another tepid offensive performance in their return from a mediocre nine-game road trip.
Key moment
After Ohtani’s single, Lars Nootbaar made a spectacular diving catch on Mookie Betts’ tailing fly to the right field line.
Key stat
Glasnow is winless in nine starts since March 31 despite posting a 2.17 ERA since his return last month. He retired 17 of his final 18 batters without a hit.
Up next
Miles Mikolas (6-8, 4.83 ERA) pitches for St. Louis against Emmet Sheehan (2-2, 3.60 ERA) on Tuesday.