Adrian Gonzalez provided the Dodgers with the heroics on Saturday in their 5-3 victory against the Cardinals.
Adrian Gonzalez scored Nick Punto in the first inning off of a double and in the third inning with a single. In the fifth he produced the Dodgers third run of the game with a solo home run off of Joe Kelly.
Adrian Gonzalez has been in a slide since the Atlanta series, hitting just .077 in the seven-game stretch. His two hits and two walks were contrasted with eight strikeouts in the stretch of 26 at bats.
He had more hits, and matched his walk total from the last seven games on Saturday alone, going 3-3 with two walks and three RBIs.
Before the Atlanta series, Gonzalez was the Dogers most productive hitter, with a .343 batting average and .898 OPS in the first 31 games of the season.
Gonzalez’s poor stretch did not get much press with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier’s struggles gaining most of the attention lately.
Without the bats of Kemp and Ethier, the Dodgers rely on Gonzalez to produce since he is the only other big-hitter in the lineup.
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At Dodger Stadium on Saturday, the crowd let Kemp and Ethier know that they are getting fed up with the duo’s lack of production. The superstars were booed back-to-back at bats in the third, Kemp after a strike out swinging, and Ethier after a weak pop-out.
Ted Lilly started for the Dodgers in his first appearance since going on the DL with a rib cage injury. He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two hits and two runs while striking out three.
He left the bullpen 3.2 innings of relief. Ronald Belisario, Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen, and Brandon League combined to allow one earned run and strike out five.
Rodriguez was awarded the win and League got the save.
On Sunday Clayton Kershaw and 22 year-old Shelby Miller will face-off in the rubber match and series finale in what looks to be a stellar pitching matchup.
