Brett Anderson had a volatile first inning in St. Louis and the Dodgers offense flatlined as the Cardinals held on to beat Los Angeles 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Anderson (2-3) served up a two-run homer to Jhonny Peralta in the bottom half of the first inning, and the Red Birds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
"I was trying to go in, and it leaked out over the plate," Anderson said. "We essentially get beat on two pitches in the first. It's unfortunate, but it happens."
The fastball to Anderson would prove to be his only mistake of the day as the redheaded left-hander settled in thereafter and tossed five innings of scoreless ball.
"I was terrible today," Anderson continued. "There aren't too many moral victories in this game, but the fact that I gave us a quality start with my D+ stuff is surprising."
Carlos Martinez (5-2) was even better for the Cardinals however. The right-handed Dominican reliever turned starter pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit with eight strikeouts to pick up the win.
Kevin Siegrist surrendered a solo shot to Joc Pederson in the top of the eighth, and the Dodgers avoided the shutout. It was Pederson's team-high 13th homer of the season and the young outfielder leads all rookies in that category on the year.
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They would be unable to get any closer however as the Cardinals added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning off the struggling Chris Hatcher who has an ERA of 6.89.
Alberto Callaspo made his first start for the Dodgers at third base. Callaspo was acquired from the Braves on Wednesday in a trade that sent clubhouse favorite, Juan Uribe to Atlanta in return.
Jimmy Rollins went 0-for-3 in his second straight start in the eighth spot of the lineup. Rollins is now 0-for-7 batting ahead of the pitcher and has dropped his batting average to a paltry .202 on the season.
Trever Rosenthal earned his 15th save of the season by striking out Justin Turner to end the game.
The last two strikes on Turner appeared to be off the plate, prompting Turner to get into it with home plate umpire Marty Foster after the game. Foster ejected Turner and the utility infielder was steaming after the game.
"This is the second time this has happened," Turner said of Foster. "It happened here last year in the playoffs with balls off the plate. They already have a good pitching staff, and if they don't have to throw strikes, then it's an even better pitching staff. I just wish it wasn't decided like that."
Game Notes:
The Cardinals and Dodgers will meet seven times in ten days as St. Louis travels to Los Angeles for a four-game series starting on Thursday.
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