LOS ANGELES — Saturday’s Game Report: Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0
In his two starts on this Cardinals’ road trip, Jordan Montgomery has allowed one earned run over 12 innings – and has two losses to show for it.
It’s been that kind of trip, and season, so far for the Cardinals.
Montgomery was matched up against Clayton Kershaw on Saturday night, and as good as he pitched, Kershaw pitched better in the Dodgers’ win in Los Angeles.
Kershaw retired the first 13 Cardinals he faced before Dylan Carlson singled with one out in the fifth, one of just three hits for the Cardinals in the game.
The only run of the game came when Montgomery gave up a single to James Outman in the second, who stole second, went to third on Andrew Knizner’s throwing error and scored on a single by ninth-place hitter Austin Barnes.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 2-7 on the trip and 10-18 for the season.
In Montgomery’s first start on the trip, he allowed one unearned run against the Giants in a game the Cardinals ended up losing 4-0.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The only other hits for the Cardinals were a leadoff single by Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh and a two-out single by Willson Contreras in the ninth … Their best scoring chance came in the eighth when Knizner walked with two outs and Lars Nootbaar reached on an error but pinch-hitter Brendan Donovan was retired for the third out … Nolan Arenado moved up to third in the batting order for the first time this season and was 0-of-4, leaving him 3-of-29 on the road trip.
On the mound: Montgomery allowed five hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven … He left with runners on first and second in the seventh before Jordan Hicks relieved and struck out Mookie Betts to end the inning … After a leadoff walk in the eighth, Hicks struck out two more batters, then gave way to Genesis Cabrera, who also walked a batter before getting out of the inning.
Key stat: The sixth through ninth hitters in the Cardinals’ batting order were Tyler O’Neill, Paul DeJong, Knizner and Nootbaar and they were a combined 0-of-11 and struck out eight times.
Worth noting: It was the first 1-0 loss for the Cardinals in Los Angeles since June 26, 2014 … Adam Wainwright is expected to throw about 90 pitches in his start for Memphis on Sunday in Durham, N.C. … In Memphis’ game on Saturday night, Matthew Liberatore threw six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine. He lowered his ERA to 2.14.
Looking ahead: The road trip will conclude on Sunday as the Cardinals try to avoid being swept in the series. Jake Woodford is the scheduled starter.
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