*Photo from KSDK*
When the St. Louis Cardinals are rolling, they are rolling. Albert Pujols homered, Andrew Knizner drove in 3 runs, and the Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 7-6 victory on Tuesday night in St. Louis.
The Cardinals have won just 4 of their last 10 games, but 3 of those have come in a row, as the Cardinals opened the series the right way, after splitting with the Philadelphia Phillies. Aside from the big bats in the lineup, Knizner's 3 RBI game ended up being the difference maker.
Knizner said that "Our big dogs are at the top of the order for a reason, and we’re usually trying to hop on, ride as long as we can, but it’s always good to take a little pressure off those guys who are grinding. It’s nice to give those guys a breather with us stringing some hits together at the bottom of the order. We’re already a good offense, but if we can get all nine guys going, we can really be scary down the stretch."
The scoring started in the second inning, when Pujols hit a solo home run to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0. Juan Yepez scored on a wild pitch later in the inning, followed by an RBI single from Knizner, making it a 3-0 Cardinals lead. In the 3rd inning, Freddie Freeman got the Dodgers on the board with an RBI double, and Nolan Gorman hit a solo homer, making it a 4-1 ballgame.
In the 4th inning, Knizner and Nolan Arenado each added RBI singles, putting the Cardinals ahead by a 6-1 score. In the 5th, a two run home run by Trea Turner made it a 6-3 game, going out to left field. In the 6th, a groundout from Austin Barnes scored Hanser Alberto, cutting the Dodgers deficit to 6-4.
In the 7th inning, Trea Turner scored on a single into right field by Will Smith, cutting the deficit to a 6-5 score. In the 8th, an RBI single by Knizner made it a 7-5 game. A 9th inning solo home run to center field by Freddie Freeman made it a 7-6 score, but the Dodgers couldn't finish the comeback this time.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said that "We had a lot of guys contributing. A lot of different guys stepped up. It was good to see the guys do their jobs. It's fun to play good teams. It's a credit to our guys."
Jordan Hicks started for the Cardinals, going the first 1 2/3 innings, pitching scoreless ball. Johan Oviedo was next, getting the win in 1 1/3 innings. Matthew Liberatore, Junior Fernandez, Packy Naughton, Ryan Helsley, and Giovanny Gallegos all came out of the bullpen to keep the Dodgers in check.
Mitch White didn't do great in his start for the Dodgers, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits over 5 innings of work. After White departed, Phil Bickford and Yency Almonte pitched shutout innings of relief work, while David Price allowed one run in one inning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of White that "We just couldn't finish innings. In starts past, Mitch has been pretty good about that. But you’ve gotta give those guys credit for extending innings. For him to get through five innings, give us five innings, was still beneficial. And we still had a chance to win."
Up next, the Cardinals and Dodgers continue their series on Wednesday night. Adam Wainwright gets the start for the Cardinals, while Tony Gonsolin goes for the Dodgers.
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