Manny Machado had a home run among his three hits, and David Freese had a two-run triple against his former team Thursday as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 9-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals, who trailed 8-1 after four innings, scored two runs in the ninth inning and had the tying run at the plate twice, but Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who entered in a non-save situation, finished off the game by getting Matt Adams to ground out.

Clayton Kershaw gave up four runs, three earned, over six innings as the second-place Dodgers (80-67) remained 1 1/2 games behind the National League West-leading Colorado Rockies. The third-place Cardinals (81-66) fell 4 1/2 games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals still hold the second wild-card spot in the NL, but the Dodgers pulled within a game of St. Louis.

The Dodgers' victory, in the opener of a key four-game series, was their first against the Cardinals this season after getting swept in a three-game series at Los Angeles in late August.

Freese, a former postseason hero for the Cardinals who played his first five seasons in his hometown of St. Louis, is 6-for-18 against his former team this season.

Cardinals rookie starter Austin Gomber (5-1) took the first loss of his career. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over three innings, the shortest start of his young career. The left-hander had given up a combined eight runs over his previous six starts.

Kershaw (8-5) gave up eight hits with two walks, struck out eight, and even drove in a run with a fourth-inning single. He improved to 104-0 in his career when receiving at least four runs of support.

Cardinals reliever Tyson Ross batted for himself in the fifth inning and hit a home run off Kershaw, the second homer of his career. Kershaw had retired eight consecutive Cardinals batters before Ross hit his home run.

The Dodgers wasted little time scoring, getting Freese's two-run hit on a 14-pitch at-bat against Gomber in the opening inning. Matt Kemp followed two pitches later with an RBI single.

Machado had an RBI double in the third inning, and Kershaw drove in the first of four runs in the fourth. Chris Taylor, Justin Turner and Machado also drove in runs in the fourth.

The Cardinals made some noise in the fifth inning as five consecutive hitters reached base at one point, starting with Ross' home run. Marcell Ozuna and Paul DeJong also drove in runs in the inning.

Machado's home run came in the seventh inning, giving him 10 since joining the Dodgers in July and 34 on the season.

--Field Level Media