Teoscar Hernandez delivered a game-ending two-run double in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers found some offense just in time to pull out a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Without Shohei Ohtani, who received the day off following a four-strikeout game Wednesday while showing discomfort in his right arm, Hernandez delivered to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals (70-71).
The only other Dodgers run came when Tommy Edman scored on a wild pitch. Edman batted in the leadoff spot in place of Ohtani.
In his sixth start for Los Angeles (83-57), Tarik Skubal gave up two runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
Joshua Baez and Ramon Urias each had RBI singles for the Cardinals. Quinn Mathews, from nearby Orange County, gave up one run over five innings in his fifth career start for St. Louis.
The Cardinals are now 2-1 to open a key nine-game road trip with their wild-card chances hanging in the balance.
Mathews worked around four hits and four walks and had four strikeouts.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead against Skubal in the first inning. Jose Fermin and Ivan Herrera opened the game with singles and Baez brought home the run on a one-out base hit.
St. Louis threatened again with a pair of second-inning singles but did not score. In the third, the Cardinals delivered three hits in a span of five batters as Urias delivered a run for a 2-0 advantage.
Edman opened the bottom of the fifth with a double and went to third on a Hernandez ground ball before scoring on a Mathews wild pitch.
The Dodgers had the bases loaded in the eighth before Dalton Rushing struck out against George Soriano.
Edman singled with one out in the ninth against right-hander Riley O’Brien (3-7) and stole second before Mookie Betts walked. Hernandez ripped a double to left-center to end it on a 3-2 sinker.
