Pedro Pagés Powers Cardinals Past Dodgers in 5-0 Shutout Victory
ST. LOUIS — Pedro Pagés launched a two-run homer and Sonny Gray delivered another dominant outing as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 Friday night at Busch Stadium, following a 77-minute rain delay.
Willson Contreras added an exclamation point with a solo home run in the eighth—his sixth of the season—off Chris Stratton, who was re-signed by the Dodgers earlier in the day. Nolan Arenado led the offense with a three-hit night, helping St. Louis extend its red-hot stretch to 21-9 since May 4—best in the National League during that span.
Gray (7-1) was sharp again, scattering eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five and didn’t issue a walk, improving his career mark to two wins in eight starts against the Dodgers. His effort also extended his scoreless streak to 14 innings, dating back to late May.
Relievers JoJo Romero, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz closed it out, combining for 2 2/3 clean innings to lock in the Cardinals’ eighth shutout of the season.
Pagés got the Cardinals going early, taking the first pitch he saw from Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski deep to left-center for his fifth home run of the year in the second inning. The rookie catcher continues to provide unexpected power in key moments.
Brendan Donovan extended the lead with a clutch two-out, two-run blooper in the fifth, making it 4-0 and giving the Cardinals plenty of cushion.
Wrobleski (1-2), recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for the start, gave up four runs on six hits and three walks across a career-high six innings.
Turning Point:The Dodgers looked poised to respond in the third with back-to-back singles from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. But Gray calmly struck out Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández before getting Max Muncy to fly out, shutting the door on LA’s best scoring chance.
Stat to Know:Gray has now thrown 14 straight scoreless innings and has held opponents off the board in four of his last six starts.
Next Up:The series continues Saturday as Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.39 ERA) faces Cardinals right-hander Erick Fedde (3-5, 3.82 ERA).