The Dodgers’ August woes followed them into the first day of September.
Roster expansion, returning three players from the injured list, the mental relief of turning the calendar page — none of that gave the Dodgers the boost they needed against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Instead, the Dodgers lost 13-8 to a team that entered the day 4½ games out of the last National League wild-card spot.
“IWe just got behind the eight ball,” manager Dave Roberts said.
During the Dodgers’ last seven series (following a high-scoring trip to Chicago), their rotation has recorded a top-five ERA (2.97) in the majors. But on Tuesday, left-hander Eric Lauer returned to the rotation and coughed up seven runs in three innings.
Dodgers second baseman Alex Freeland can’t handle an RBI single by the Cardinals’ Nathan Church in the third inning.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
It also was a personal outlier in Lauer’s time with the Dodgers. He had given up more than three runs in just two outings since they acquired him in mid-May, and Tuesday marked his shortest start.
“I felt good warming up, felt good in the bullpen, then got out there and kind of just lost it,” Lauer said. “And you know it’s one of those things where you try to make adjustments and you try to work on things between, and I think I might have been just tinkering a little too much in between and getting outside of myself. So I think really just focusing on what I do well and repeating that and not trying to get too fancy and getting back to the basics is really all I can do.”
The Dodgers had briefly moved Lauer into the bullpen, but he reclaimed his starting role when right-hander Roki Sasaki landed on the IL last week with a blister on his right middle finger.
Lauer’s start Tuesday began to go downhill in the second inning when he gave up back-to-back solo homers to St. Louis’ Ramón Urias and Thomas Saggese with two outs.
Those runs could have been quickly forgotten if Lauer had gotten back on track. The next inning, however, he surrendered five runs as the Cardinals kept chipping away with five singles, a hit batter, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
The Dodgers struck back in the bottom half of the inning — but not exactly with authority.
Mookie Betts’ bases-loaded double was assisted by a Cardinals defensive miscue. Right fielder Jordan Walker and second baseman José Fermín both raced after Betts’ shallow fly. As Fermín dashed back, Walker slid to attempt the catch — and took Fermín’s feet out from under him.
The ball fell to the ground. With two outs, Dodgers baserunners were going on contact and all three crossed the plate before Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson could retrieve the ball and throw it.
Betts’ bat stayed hot. And he contributed another RBI double in the fifth — this one smoked up the left-field line to drive in one run. But it didn’t do much to put a dent in the Cardinals’ lead, which had grown to 10-4.
The Cardinals continued to tack on against the Dodgers’ bullpen, powered by three more home runs, off right-hander Seth Halvorsen and left-handers Alex Vesia and Justin Wrobleski, who was fresh off the injured list.
Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández pitches during the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Cardinals.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Catcher Will Smith, whom the Dodgers also activated from the IL after three months away, put the ball in the air in his first four at-bats and finally was rewarded in the seventh inning with an RBI double. He drove in another run in the ninth, grounding into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, as part of a last-ditch, three-run rally.
“There were some positives with the at-bats,” Roberts said. “I liked some of the swings. I like taking walks when given to us. I like being able to push runs across.”
All four players the Dodgers (82-56) activated appeared in the game. Alex Freeland, recalled from triple A, started the game at second, and Dalton Rushing, reinstated from the IL, struck out as a pinch-hitter. Rushing will provide a left-handed bat off the bench until he’s graduated from his throwing program and built up on the defensive side.
The score was so lopsided by the ninth inning that utility player Kiké Hernández took the mound to finish the game — but without his signature pitching helmet.
