Justin Turner hit two homers and drove in three runs as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Tuesday night.
Will Smith went 4-for-4 with a homer and two runs for the Dodgers (88-51), who won for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave former Cardinals star Albert Pujols a start at first base before his old fans. After receiving a standing ovation in the first inning, Pujols hit a solo homer to left.
Nolan Arenado drove in both runs for the reeling Cardinals (69-68), who lost their fourth straight game.
St. Louis starting pitcher J.A. Happ (8-8) allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out three without issuing a walk.
Due to multiple injuries to their rotation, the Dodgers went with a bullpen start, beginning with Corey Knebel, who allowed a run in his only inning.
Evan Phillips relieved him and allowed a run in his 1 2/3 innings. The Dodgers used seven more relievers to get through the game.
Alex Vesia (3-1), their third hurler, got the victory after striking out the only batter he faced.
Following Pujols' homer, the Cardinals tied the game 1-1 in their half of the first. Dylan Carlson reached on a one-out infield single, advanced to third on Tyler O'Neill's ground-rule double and scored on Arenado's sacrifice fly.
O'Neill hit another double in the third inning and scored on Arenado's single into left field to put the Cardinals up 2-1.
The Dodgers rallied in the fourth inning. Infield singles by Corey Seager and Smith, a one-out RBI double by Steven Souza Jr., then Cody Bellinger's run-scoring grounder put the visitors ahead 3-2.
Turner hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, and Smith's solo homer in the sixth inning off reliever Alex Reyes lifted the Dodgers' lead to 5-2.
Turner's two-run homer in the ninth inning off Kwang Hyun Kim made it 7-2.
--Field Level Media
LA Dodgers | St. Louis | |
Corey Knebel | Player | J.A. Happ |
No Decision | W/L | Loss |
1.0 | IP | 5.0 |
0 | Strikeouts | 3 |
2 | Hits | 7 |
9.00 | ERA | 7.20 |
LA Dodgers | St. Louis | |
Will Smith | Player | Tyler O'Neill |
4 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
7 | TB | 5 |
1.000 | Avg | 1.000 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
LA Dodgers | 11 | 4 | 25 | .289 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
St. Louis | 8 | 0 | 11 | .235 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |