Dodgers Stay Hot With 5-1 Win Over St. Louis on Memorial Day

When you're hot, you're hot.

Chase Utley, Cody Bellinger, and Logan Forsythe all homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers won their fifth straight game, 5-1, over the St. Louis Cardinals on Memorial Day at Busch Stadium.

Less than 24 hours removed from their three-game sweep of the reigning World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers traveled to St. Louis for an early morning game against the Redbirds.

The adrenaline must have been stronger than the jet lag as the Dodgers jumped on National League ERA leader Mike Leake early in the game.

Facing Leake for the second time in a week, Utley started off the scoring for the Boys in Blue with a solo shot to centerfield to leadoff the third inning.

The 38-year-old veteran second baseman has been the hottest hitter on the team as of late, batting .311 with two doubles, two triples, three homers, and 13 RBI in the month of May.

Yasiel Puig followed Utley's bomb with a single to center, and moved to second on a sac bunt by pitcher Rich Hill. Two batters later, Corey Seager drove in Puig with an RBI single up the middle to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Cody Bellinger extended his team-lead in home runs with his 11^th long ball of the season in the top of the fourth inning.

Bellinger got the green light on a 3-0 count, and sent a 89MPH sinker into the seats in right-center to give the Dodgers an extra insurance run.

"It was 3-0 and I got the green light," said Bellinger of his 11th homer of the season. "There was nobody on base so I had a good feeling what was coming and I was able to put a good swing on it."

The 21-year-old rookie sensation now has nine homers in the month of May to go with 27 RBI. He's the fastest in franchise history to reach 11 career home runs, doing it in just 32 games.

Bellinger is also the easy favorite to win NL Rookie of the Month, and also showed off his arm by throwing out a runner at the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

"I didn't break towards the ball right away, if I had, he probably wouldn't have sent him," said Bellinger of the play at the plate. "I had a lot of momentum going that way, I just tried to throw it the best I could."

New rule: Do not run on @Cody_Bellinger.

WOW. �� pic.twitter.com/kebRu3Q0vK— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2017

After St. Louis added a run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Dodgers struck back with two more runs in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

Logan Forsythe hit his first home run in a Dodger uniform when he sent a fastball from Kevin Siegrist into the bullpen in left field.

First home run of the season for Logan Forsythe. ✅

��: https://t.co/kYnup08leX pic.twitter.com/7Rgbq9HwlY— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 29, 2017

Forsythe has been starting at third base and batting leadoff recently with Justin Turner on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Leake (5-3) took the loss, after a dominant performance last week at Dodger Stadium. The right-hander allowed four runs on six hits, with one walk and six strikeouts in seven innings, raising his ERA to 2.24 on the season.

Rich Hill (2-2) rebounded from his worst outing of the season against the Cardinals last week in Los Angeles. The veteran left-hander surrendered just one run on two hits, with two walks and four strikeouts in five solid innings of work.

"We made some adjustments this week and it proved to be succesful," Hill said of his second start against the Cardinals in five days. "Today was much more crisp and clean, and the ball was coming out more efficiently. I feel much more comfortable where I'm at right now."

The Dodgers bullpen once again threw four scoreless innings of relief to close the door.

"Of course we can't expect them to throw up zeros the rest of the season," said Roberts of his bullpen lately. "I try and put these guys in the right spot and they're answering the bell. Those guys feed off each other."

Brandon Morrow made his Dodger debut with a scoreless ninth inning. Morrow was activated earlier in the day from Triple-A Oklahoma City after starting pitcher Alex Wood was placed on the 10-day disabled list.

The 32-year-old reliever has an opt out clause in his contract on June 1^st if he did not reach the Majors before then. He also would receive a $100,000 bonus if he was promoted to the big leagues.

The victory gives the Dodgers three wins over the Cardinals in four games over the past week. They have won five consecutive games and 11 of 13 overall.

Up Next:

Kenta Maeda makes the start on Tuesday for the Dodgers as Michael Wacha returns for the Redbirds. First pitch is 4:05PM PST.

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