(59-69) at St. Louis
(67-62)August 24, 2011
2:15 PM ET, 1:15 PM CT, 12:15 PM MT, 1115 AM PT
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
TV: FSPT, FSMW
RADIO: KMOX 1120
H. Kuroda (9-14, 2.88) J. García (10-6, 3.45)
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/preview?gid=310824124
The Series:It's been 17 years since the Los Angeles Dodgers swept a three-game series in St. Louis.
Based on how well Hiroki Kuroda has pitched and how poorly the Cardinals have played of late, the Dodgers appear to be in good position to finally do it again.
Kuroda looks to win his third consecutive start Wednesday when he faces the reeling Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
After rallying for two runs in the ninth to win 2-1 on Monday, Los Angeles (59-69) scored eight times in the first three innings en route to a 13-2 rout of St. Louis on Tuesday.
"The run support, that's awesome," said Clayton Kershaw , whose 16th win tied him for the NL lead. "You don't want to take those nights for granted."
It was the first time since July 9-10, 2003, the Dodgers won two straight at St. Louis. They have not swept a three-game set there since Aug. 20-22, 1993.
The Cardinals (67-62), meanwhile, have lost nine of 14 to fall 10 games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
"We're just trying to stay positive," said outfielder Allen Craig , who had two hits.
The Dodgers will try to build on their second-highest scoring game of the season and provide another offensive night for Kuroda (9-14, 2.88 ERA).
The right-hander allowed two runs in six innings of an 8-2 win at Colorado on Friday. Kuroda, who has received an average 3.67 runs of support this season, won a game where he allowed one or two runs for the first time since April 24. Those are the only two he has yielded in 13 innings of his last two outings while the Dodgers have totaled 15 runs in those contests.
"To come out here and get some victories and have a lot of runs, where he could go out there and do his thing, I'm sure it was nice for him and I know we enjoyed doing it for him," outfielder Tony Gwynn said.
Though Kuroda allowed six runs in five innings of a 9-5 home loss to the Cardinals on April 14, he has a 2.25 ERA while going 0-1 in two starts at Busch Stadium.
Matt Kemp and Rod Barajas look to help back Kuroda after they combined to hit three of the Dodgers' season-high four home runs Tuesday.
Batting .364 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in his last 29 games, Kemp needs one homer to become the second player in franchise history with 30 homers and 30 steals. Barajas, who homered twice Tuesday, has four with 10 RBIs while going 9 for 17 in his last five contests.
Kemp is 12 for 25 with three home runs and nine RBIs versus St. Louis this season and 3 for 5 against scheduled starter Jaime Garcia (10-6, 3.45).
The left-hander is 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in five starts since winning at Pittsburgh on July 23. He gave up three runs in 6 1-3 innings of a 5-4, 10-inning loss at Chicago on Friday. Garcia allowed three runs in five innings against Kuroda in April to improve to 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA in two starts versus Los Angeles.
Matt Holliday went 1 for 3 in his return to the lineup after leaving Monday's game after an insect flew deep into his ear.
"He died overflowed of wisdom being inside my head," Holliday joked.
Holliday remains upbeat despite being mired in a 7-for-35 slump. However, he's 10 for 23 with six doubles and a homer versus Kuroda.
season series tied 3-3 (as of Wed 8/24)
August 22, 2011-Los Angeles 2, St. Louis 1
August 23, 2011-Los Angeles 13, St. Louis 2
August 24, 2011-LAD (Kuroda) @ STL (Garcia)-1:15 PM CDT
2011 Current MLB Standings
2011 Current MLB Wild Card Standings
2011 Current MLB vs. Division Standings
2011 Current MLB vs. Expanded Standings
Baseball Prosepectus Adjusted Standings
Last Game:
Los Angeles 13, St. Louis 2
WP: C. Kershaw (16-5)
LP: K. Lohse (11-8)
HR: LAD - R. Barajas 2 (14), M. Kemp (29), A. Miles (3)
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=310823124
Kershaw wins 16th, Dodgers rip Cardinals 13-2
By R.B. FALLSTROM, AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Up eight runs after three innings, Clayton Kershaw went right after the hitters.
The 23-year-old lefty won his National League-leading 16th game and Rod Barajas homered twice in the Los Angeles Dodgers ' 13-2 victory over the fast-fading St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
"You definitely don't pitch around anybody. You just attack," Kershaw said. "You definitely don't ever want to nibble with that kind of lead."
Kyle Lohse (11-8) was rocked for a season-worst eight runs in three innings, an impossible deficit against Kershaw, who struck out eight in six scoreless innings. The Cardinals have lost six of eight and dropped a season-high 10 games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers with 33 games to go.
Manager Tony La Russa wasn't interested in taking the long view.
"Today was terrible," La Russa said. "Find Kyle and ask him because it was mystifying. They had a lot of good looks."
Matt Kemp hit a three-run homer in the first and Barajas had a solo homer in the third and three-run shot in the fifth for his 11th multihomer game, also giving him four in five games. The Dodgers hit a season-high four homers while winning consecutive games in St. Louis for the first time since July 9-10, 2003, and will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday behind Hiroki Kuroda .
Kershaw (16-5) is 8-1 with a 1.21 ERA in his last nine starts and hiked his NL-leading strikeout total to 207. The Cardinals threatened twice, but Kershaw struck out Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman with two on to end the first and struck out the side in the fourth to negate a double, infield hit and walk.
"You pick the right day to pitch sometimes," Kershaw said. "The run support, that's awesome. You don't want to take those nights for granted."
Kemp also doubled and scored in the second and needs one homer to become the second player in franchise history with 30 homers and 30 steals. Barajas is batting .381 (16-for-42) in August with five homers, three doubles and 16 RBIs in 13 games.
Yadier Molina and Rafael grounded into double plays to give the Cardinals 139 on the year, by far the most in the majors. Second baseman Skip Schumaker pitched the ninth and surrendered a solo homer to Aaron Miles , who had been the last Cardinals position player to pitch, twice last season.
"I kind of felt like that was my job over there for a while," Miles joked. "I've played catch with Shoe probably about a thousand times so I know exactly what it looks like coming out of hand.
"He's throwing 92 (mph), he provided all the power."
Schumaker pitched in relief at UC-Santa Barbara and probably has the best outfield arm on the Cardinals.
"To give up home a homer to Miles, of all guys, is disappointing," Schumaker said.
Lohse had been 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA against NL West opponents before coming up empty, with half of the Dodgers' eight hits for extra bases. The right-hander had won his previous three decisions.
"One of those nights they just hit everything I threw," Lohse said. "A lot balls that came back over the plate. I wasn't hitting my spots well."
La Russa passed on a chance to cut into Kershaw's cushion when he allowed reliever Mitchell Boggs to bat with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, electing to save his bullpen. Boggs struck out on three pitches.
"You just do the math in the innings that we've got to play," La Russa said.
Notes: Kuroda (9-14, 2.88) has won his last two decisions heading into Wednesday's matchup against Jaime Garcia (10-6, 3.45), who's struggled this month with a 5.48 ERA. ... Cardinals RHP Jason Motte has made 27 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run. ... Furcal, the St. Louis SS, made an outstanding play in the hole, going into the hole and making a strong throw that just beat Juan Rivera . ... Kershaw reached 200 strikeouts the seventh earliest date in franchise history. Sandy Koufax has the five fastest, three of them in July. Recalling his thoughts on the milestone after his previous start, Kershaw said, "I probably said I don't care, because I don't. Outs are outs as far as I'm concerned."
