The Dodgers returned to Busch Stadium in St. Louis for Game 2 on Saturday, just over 13 hours after losing a 13-inning affair in Game 1. Game 2 was the scene of another pitcher's duel between Michael Wacha of the Cardinals and Clayton Kershaw, but the Cardinals squeezed out a 1-0 win, putting the Dodgers down 2-0 in the series.
Kershaw gave up a lead-off triple to start off the first inning, but shut down St. Louis from that point until the fifth inning. Only one runner reached base, on a walk, and he was immediately doubled up.
In the fifth inning, he gave up his second hit of the game on a double to David Freese. With Matt Adams up, Kershaw threw a wild pitch, giving Freese a free pass to third base with no outs in the inning.
Kershaw could not strand the runner like he did in the first, and gave up a sacrifice fly to Jon Jay to for a Cardinals 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers wasted Kershaw's fantastic outing by giving him just four hits and no runs of support. He finished with six innings pitched, two hits, one walk and one run allowed.
St. Louis starter Michael Wacha dueled Kershaw with 6.2 scoreless innings. He gave up just five hits with eight strikeouts.
They Dodgers are down two big bats with injuries to Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez, but they still have a lineup with Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Yasiel Puig. That trio went 1-11 with six strikeouts.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
In the sixth, the Dodgers were gifted with a perfect chance to score. Kershaw led off the inning with a single, but looked to be caught in a double play on a ground ball from Carl Crawford.
Second baseman Matt Carpenter threw the ball into the outfield, putting runners on second and third with no outs. The Dodgers squandered the opportunity with a Mark Ellis pop out and strikeouts from Yasiel Puig and Juan Uribe.
It was their last legitimate scoring opportunity of the game. They finished Game 2 with five hits and 12 strikeouts.Their last five batters struck out.
In the series they have scored two runs. They are scoreless since the third inning of Game 1, for a running total of 19 innings.
The NL Championship Series moves to Los Angeles and will resume with Game 3, on Monday. The Dodgers have Hyun-Jin Ryu slated to face the Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright, as they look to win their first game of the series.
