Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Cardinals 4, Dodgers 2
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — For Jim Edmonds, taking away a run is as good as driving one in. Better yet is doing both.
Edmonds hit a two-run shot in the first inning and threw out Los Angeles' Cesar Izturis in the sixth as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dodgers 4-2 Monday night in a matchup of division leaders.
“It's the same feeling, whether you score or take one away,” said Edmonds, a four-time Gold Glove center fielder. “Anytime you get a chance to score runs and take runs away, that's the key to the game.”
Eduardo Perez also connected for the Cardinals, giving them 24 home runs in their last 13 games. They lead the NL Central by 3 1/2 games over Cincinnati, and are a season-best 11 games over .500 for the second time.
The Dodgers, who regained first place in the NL West with Sunday's victory over Arizona, still lead the Diamondbacks by a half-game despite their fifth loss in six games.
Rookie Travis Smith (3-0) allowed two runs and nine hits over in 5 2-3 innings in his seventh big league start, his third since getting called up from the minors five days after Darryl Kile's death.
Smith stranded five runners in scoring position over the first four innings while beating the Dodgers for the second time in 12 days.
Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 22nd save. His throwing error put runners on first and second with no outs, but he escaped without allowing a run.
Dave Roberts popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt, and Paul Lo Duca grounded into a game-ending double play.
“Jason's tough, and he was throwing hard tonight,” said Lo Duca, who has grounded into 14 double plays. “I actually got a good pitch to hit. He hung me a slider and I hit it pretty sharp, but it was just right at him. Three feet to the left and we're still out there. But I didn't do my job, and that's the bottom line.”
Omar Daal (7-5) gave up four runs and six hits in six innings, as the Cardinals beat him for the second time in nine days. The left-hander is 1-4 lifetime against St. Louis with a 7.26 ERA.
Daal, who surrendered home runs by Perez and Edgar Renteria in the first inning of last Sunday's 12-6 loss at St. Louis, fell behind 2-0 in the first inning this time on Polanco's double and Edmonds' 18th homer.
Mike DiFelice made it 3-0 with an RBI double in the fourth, and Perez led off the sixth with his sixth homer.
The Dodgers closed to 4-2 in the bottom half with Adrian Beltre's ninth homer, following a leadoff single by Eric Karros.
Later in the sixth, Izturis tried to score on Roberts' two-out single. But Edmonds charged the ball in center and made a perfect throw on the fly to the left of the plate, where DiFelice tagged Izturis on the back as he slid by. It was Edmonds' eighth outfield assist.
“I wasn't very confident charging the ball because it snakes here a little bit in the outfield with the way the grass is cut,” Edmonds said. “I was just trying to make sure I caught it first and then just threw the ball home. I knew he can run, and with two out, I wasn't going to get him if I didn't throw the ball right on the money.”
In each of the first three innings, the Dodgers had two baserunners with less than two out, but failed to score.
Brian Jordan grounded into a double play to end the first, and Smith escaped the second inning when Izturis lined out to third and Daal struck out.
Los Angeles had runners at second and third with no outs in the third when Smith struck out Shawn Green on a 2-2 changeup. Roberts was thrown out at the plate on Jordan's dribbler to Smith, who then hit Karros on the right arm before getting Beltre to ground out with the bases loaded.
“We had our opportunities and obviously didn't capitalize on them,” Roberts said. “I didn't do my job on that bunt in the ninth inning. When you come up short, then those things are more glaring. We gave them the game. I mean, they won it, but we didn't execute in certain situations, and I'm definitely guilty of that.”
Notes: It was the 10th start this season for Daal, who began the season in the bullpen. He now has one more start than Kevin Brown, whose back surgery on June 11 forced the Dodgers to put Daal into the rotation indefinitely. ... Green, whose 24 homers since May 21 are the most in the majors during that span, has only one in his last nine games. ... RHP Andy Benes will come off the 60-day DL on Tuesday to start against the Dodgers — his first appearance since April 15. Benes has been sidelined because of an arthritic right knee. ... Dodgers RHP Darren Dreifort pitched a simulated game Monday for the first time since his elbow surgery last July.
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Cardinals 4, Dodgers 2
