Man, what a gut punch out in LA last night, watching the Dodgers let a late lead slip away and their perfect 5-0 extra-innings record vanish in an 8-6 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. After scoring three runs early in the first inning, they just couldn’t capitalize on other scoring chances, setting the stage for a brutal finish.
From No-No to Oh-No, Real Fast
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in his first September start for the second straight year, was absolutely dealing, flirting with a no-hitter deep into the game. He didn’t allow a single hit until the sixth inning! Talk about being locked in. But then José Fermín singled, busting up the no-no, and man, that opened the floodgates. Infielder Thomas Saggese, who came into this series with only one homer all season and just four in his whole career (435 plate appearances!), smacked a two-run home run. Just like that, the no-hitter was gone, and the lead felt a little less secure. And get this: Saggese now has *three* long balls in two games against the Dodgers. What in the world?! Catcher Leo Bernal, batting DH, twisted the knife deeper with his first ever major league homer, a two-run shot in the seventh. Yamamoto, despite all that, was still efficient, throwing 93 pitches to get through seven innings for the tenth time this season, tied for third-most in the majors. His four-seamer and splitter were nasty, accounting for six of his eight strikeouts. Even with giving up four runs last night, he’s only allowed 14 runs over his last eight starts with a 2.32 ERA since the All-Star break. So it’s not all bad, but that no-no bid just evaporating, brutal.
Extra-Inning Streak Snapped by Rookie Firepower
The Dodgers were 5-0 in extra innings coming into Wednesday, thanks to some seriously stingy pitching that had allowed only one free runner to score across six total innings. So when this one got to the tenth, you gotta think, ‘Alright, here we go, another extra-inning win!’ Nope. Not this time. Brock Stewart got absolutely shelled, giving up hits to the first three Cardinals batters in the tenth, loading the bases and blowing the game wide open. It all culminated with Joshua Báez, a rookie who didn’t even start the game, smacking a two-run double that capped off a three-run inning for St. Louis. That kid Báez, he was a thorn in their side all night, too. He led off the eighth with a double off Tanner Scott that was eventually cashed in on two outs to tie the game. The Cards never even had a lead until the tenth! This loss has got to sting extra hard, knowing they had that perfect extra-inning record going.
This kind of loss, where you flirt with history and then blow a late lead, is just a kick to the gut. That sting of losing a perfect extra-innings record, especially when your ace looked so good, has to fuel them. They’ll need to lock it down and avoid letting the Cardinals rookie bats get to them again in this series.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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