Steve Webb
Game 124, 8/17/2024: Dodgers 2, Cardinals 5
ST. LOUIS, MO — Let’s be honest. Bobby Miller is no Tyler Glasnow. With their ace on the shelf (hopefully temporarily), Miller was called on to step in and step up on Saturday against the Cardinals in St. Louis. That didn’t happen. Miller got dinged for two home runs and took the loss as the Cards broke their five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Dodgers.
This one started positively enough, with some classic old-school baseball to push the Dodgers’ first run across in the top of the first. Shohei Ohtani drew a leadoff walk and promptly stole second during Mookie Betts at-bat. Betts then drove a long fly to left that moved Ohtani to third on an adroit bit of baserunning. With the infield drawn in, Freddie Freeman squirted a groundball into centerfield, and the Dodgers were on the board.
With Tyler Glasnow scratched from the start and headed for the IL, it was up to Miller, who has struggled mightily this season, to carry the freight. He got a friendly call on a flyball out to Mookie Betts to lead off the game, but Alec Burleson smacked a single, swiped second, and moved to third on a wild pitch, and the Cards were in the same situation that the Dodgers had been, with a man on third with just one out. Wilson Contreras ripped a single to tie up the ballgame, and Miller had to bear down to get the Dodgers off the field with no further damage. A couple of fly balls to Kevin Kiermaier in center did just that and the inning was over.
However, Miller was not so fortunate in the third. After second baseman Masyn Wynn pulled a single into left, Bobby fell behind 2-0 to Alec Burleson. Not being able to land his offspeed pitches for strikes, Miller had very little mystery about what he was going to throw next. Yep, he threw a heater. And yep, Burleson drilled the ball over the right field fence to put the Cards up 3-1.
The Dodgers got a little closer when Shohei Ohtani hit his 37th home run in the fifth, but Miller gave it right back in the bottom of the frame when Masyn Winn hit one out to center on a ball that just evaded the outstretched glove of Kevin Kiermaier. Miller didn’t make it out of the inning, as Ryan Brasier (welcome back!) had to bail him out by getting the final out of the inning with a runner on third. Miller’s final line on what was a not-terrible-but-not-great outing: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
If you’re looking for something positive in this one, it would probably be the return of Brasier, who made his first appearance on the mound since he went on the IL with a leg issue in April. After getting out of the fifth, he pitched a scoreless and efficient sixth inning to send the game into the late innings with the score locked at 4-2.
Unfortunately, that was as close as the Dodgers would get as Brent Honeywell would give up a solo shot to Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the eighth to get us to the final score of 5-2 in favor of the Redbirds.
The Dodgers are now 3-3 on this roadtrip after a great start. The team wraps up its three-game series (and the roadtrip) with a matinee in St. Louis. And, all eyes will be on the mound when the home team is hitting because it will be Number 22 starting for Los Angeles. Clayton Kershaw (1-2, 3.50 ERA, 17 K) is coming off a solid start in Milwaukee, and looks to build up his pitch count as he works his way back to full strength. He’ll toe the rubber against veteran righty Sonny Gray (11-7, 3.93 ERA, 162 K), who has the capacity to shut down any offense in the league. Game time will be 11:15 AM here on the West Coast. It’s going to be the last game of “Players’ Weekend,” so there will be sure to be plenty of hijinks. The game will be back on SportsNet LA.
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