Thomas Saggese hit two home runs and the St. Louis Cardinals finished with five long balls while opening a key nine-game road trip with a 13-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
Jordan Walker, Ramon Urias and Joshua Baez added home runs and Leo Bernal had a two-run single in his major league debut as the Cardinals (69-70) pulled within four games of the third and final National League wild-card spot.
St. Louis right-hander Michael McGreevy (6-9) wobbled through five innings, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks as he won for just the second time in his last nine starts. He struck out four.
Mookie Betts had two doubles and drove in four runs for the Dodgers, who lost for the fifth time in their past seven games. Left-hander Eric Lauer (8-7) had his worst start in a Los Angeles uniform since he was acquired in a May trade, allowing seven runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts in three innings.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith went 1-for-5 with two RBIs in his return after missing nearly three months due to neck inflammation.
The Cardinals gave a sign of things to come when Urias and Saggese hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning for a 2-0 lead.
St. Louis added five more runs against Lauer in the third, with two coming on Bernal’s first career hit, a single to center. Bernal, a top prospect in the Cardinals’ system, was called up Tuesday when rosters expanded.
Betts hit a three-run double in the third inning for the Dodgers (82-56) before Walker answered with a two-run home run in the fourth, his 28th.
Saggese’s second home run of the game and third on the season came in the fifth for a 10-3 lead. Saggese entered with four home runs in 134 career games over parts of three major league seasons.
Betts hit an RBI double in the fifth.
Baez gave the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the seventh with St. Louis’ fifth home run to tie a season high. St. Louis scored two more times in the eighth on a wild pitch and a Jose Fermin sacrifice fly.
Smith had an RBI double in the seventh and a run-scoring fielder’s choice in a three-run ninth for the Dodgers.
–Field Level Media
