Daily Rants: Cardinals lose fourth straight thanks to late inning home run

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The Cardinals skid continued as they dropped a close game to the Dodgers last night. Kyle Lohse pitched well and the offense produced, but the Dodgers had more timely hitting and came away with the victory. Were there any silver linings to take from the loss? Find out after the jump.

Rafael Furcal led things off for the Cardinals with a single and a steal of second base. Skip Schumaker then walked. Matt Holliday struck out and Furcal was caught trying to steal third. Carlos Beltran walked to put runners on first and second, but David Freese struck out to record the third out. In the bottom half, Tony Gwynn Jr hit a grounder to Furcal to notch the first out. Elian Herrera hit a single and was followed by a single by recent acquisition Bobby Abreu. With runners on first and second, Andre Ethier hit a single to score Herrera. Adam Kennedy then grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Dodgers up 1-0.

Yadier Molina started off the second inning with a single. Matt Adams made his big league debut and hit a single to advance Yadi to second. Dan Descalso took a walk to load the bases. Kyle Lohse struck out to record the first out and Furcal grounded into a double play to lose the scoring opportunity. James Loney led off with a single in the bottom of the second, but was caught trying to steal second base. A.J. Ellis and Justin Sellers were both retired to end the inning.

In the third, but Lohse and Billingsley started to settle in, as Schumaker, Holliday, and Beltran were retired in order for the Cardinals and Billingsley, Gwynn, and Herrera went down for the Dodgers.

Billingsley continued to cruise in the fourth as he retired Freese, Yadi, and Adams in order. Lohse gave up back-to-back singles to Abreu and Ethier to start the inning. He then walked Adam Kennedy to load the bases. James Loney hit a double play ball that erased Kennedy, but Abreu scored. Ellis then struck out to end the inning, but the Dodgers run made the score 2-0.

In the fifth inning, Dan Descalso hit a single to lead the game off and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Lohse. Furcal was safe at first on a fielding error by Billingsley. Both Descalso and Furcal scored on a triple by Schumaker. Holliday walked to put runners on the corners. Carlos Beltran hit a ground ball that eliminated Holliday, but Schumaker scored to give the Cardinals the lead. Freese then struck out to end the frame. Lohse induced pop ups from Sellers and Billingsley to record the first two outs. He then gave up singles to Gwynn and Herrera before getting Abreu out to end the inning with the Cardinals up 3-2.

Yadier Molina reached base on an error by Sellers to start the sixth. Matt Adams recorded his second hit of the night as he singled to center, but Yadi was caught trying to take third base. Dan Descalso hit a single to advance Adams to second and then Lohse hit a sac bunt to move both Adams and Descalso over. Furcal hit a single that scored both Adams and Descalso, but Schumaker then flied out to end the top of the sixth. Lohse forced Ethier to ground out, but then gave up a triple to Adam Kennedy. James Loney hit a single to score Kennedy. Ellis flew out to record the second out. Justin Sellers hit a single to put runners at first and second. Victor Marte then came in in relief to pitch to a pinch-hitting Ivan DeJesus, who he forced to line out to end the inning with the Cardinals up 5-2.

Javy Guerra came in the pitch the seventh for the Dodgers and he retired the side. Gwynn led the seventh off with a pop up to shallow left and was followed by a Herrera single. Marc Rzepczynski came in to take over for Marte and then gave up a single to Abreu. He struck out Andre Ethier, but then gave up a three run home run to a pinch-hitting Scott Van Slyke. Scrabble struck out Loney, but the Dodgers now had a 6-5 lead.

Josh Lindblom came in to pitch the eighth inning for the Dodgers and retired Molina, Adams, and Descalso in order. Mitchell Boggs took over for Scrabble and pitched a scoreless frame, only allowing one base runner on a walk.

Kenley Jansen came in in the ninth to record the save for the Dodgers. He struck out a pinch-hitting Matt Carpenter, got Furcal to foul out, and then fielded a weak grounder by Schumaker to record the third out and give the Cardinals their nineteenth loss of the season.

Box Score

Final123456789RHE
St. Louis000032000580
LA Dodgers10010130X6142
WP: J. Guerra (2-3) S: K. Jansen (5)
LP: M. Rzepczynski (0-2)
ABRHRBIHRBBKSBLOBSeason Avg
R. Furcal ss512200013.352
S. Schumaker cf-2b411201001.309
M. Holliday lf300001202.264
C. Beltran rf300101101.291
D. Freese 3b400000403.259
    M. Rzepczynski p000000000.000
    M. Boggs p000000000.000
Y. Molina c401000000.299
M. Adams 1b412000000.500
D. Descalso 2b-3b322001000.222
K. Lohse p100000103.059
    V. Marte p000000000.000
    S. Robinson cf000000000.259
    M. Carpenter ph100000100.280
 Totals32585049113
IPHRERBBKHRWHIPSeason ERA
K. Lohse5.211331401.172.91
V. Marte (H, 6)0.21110001.134.08
M. Rzepczynski (L, 0-2; BS, 3)0.22220210.983.52
M. Boggs1.00001101.302.55

Notes from the Game

  • Matt Adams made his debut as he was called up to replace an injured Lance Berkman
  • Berkman may have a torn ACL, which would probably end his season and may end his career. Berkman doesn’t think it is an incredibly serious, but said that he thinks it’s slightly more serious than just taking a week off.
  • Berkman now joins Chris Carpenter, Allen Craig, Kyle McClellan, Jon Jay, and Scott Linebrink on a crowded Cardinals disable list

Today’s Game

The Cardinals travel to San Diego today to start a three game set with the Padres. After a four game skid, the Cardinals hold a minuscule half game lead over the Cincinnati Reds. To end the slump, they are sending 3-2 Jaime Garcia out to face 2-5 Clayton Richard. Jaime sports a 3.68 ERA, while Richard has a 4.94 mark. Redbird Rants will have the recap of the game, which has a 7:15 start time.