Dodgers Recap: Sonny Gray Shuts Dodgers Down Again as Cardinals Steal Game 1 in Los Angeles, 3-2

CHAVEZ RAVINE — Another night, another subpar performance from the Dodgers’ offense. This time, it was the 4.5 ERA Sonny Gray and home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus who helped silence the once high-powered octane lineup for Los Angeles. The Dodgers mustered only three hits: A solo home run from Freddie Freeman, a double from Teoscar Hernandez, and a single from Shohei Ohtani.

Tyler Glasnow, however, looked really good. He struggled with his command the first two innings, walking multiple batters and allowing a solo home run to Masyn Winn. But then he found it. He would retire seventeen of the final eighteen batters he’d face, leaving the game to a standing ovation in the middle of the seventh inning. But the timely hit just wasn’t there for the Dodgers against Gray, because, well, the hardly gave themselves opportunities. They got their first hit and second baserunner off of Sonny Gray when Freddie Freeman lifted a ball over the right-field wall in the fourth to tie the game. It would be the last run, hit, or baserunner that Gray would allow in his seven innings.

With the score knotted at one in the eighth, Anthony Banda, who’s been great, retired the first two hitters with ease, before Ivan Herrera launched one over the head of Andy Pages to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. But, with Gray out of the game, the Dodgers manufactured a run in the bottom of the eighth. Teoscar Hernandez smacked a hustle double, and was immediately lifted for pinch-runner Estuery Ruiz. Ruiz would scamper to third on Michael Conforto‘s groundout, and scurried home when Pages grounded out.

But in the ninth, things fell apart for LA’s pitching staff. Newly acquired Brock Stewart gave up back to back bloop hits, and retiring the next two hitters, gave up a go-ahead single to Yohel Pozo. That made it 3-2 St. Louis going to the bottom of the ninth, where JoJo Romero came on to try to close it for the Cardinals. Ohtani singled to right, but Betts, whose struggles have only continued, looked like he was about to cash in a bloop single, only to have Lars Nootbaar close hard on the ball and make an amazing, potentially game-saving catch for the first out of the inning. After that, it was basically over. Freeman struck out, and after Will Smith walked, Muncy lined out to end the threat and the game.

It’s a loss that really hurts for LA, and with San Diego falling to Arizona, a missed opportunity to gain a crucial game in the tight National League West. They’ll be right back at it again tomorrow, with Emmet Sheehan scheduled to go against Miles Mikolas at 7:10 PDT. Until then.

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