LOS ANGELES — The St. Louis Cardinals avoided a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as a big seventh inning led to a 5-2 win Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run seventh. With two on and two outs, pinch hitter Yadier Molina doubled off Joe Blanton — the Dodgers’ third reliever of the inning — to knock in two.
Matt Carpenter was then intentionally walked, and Stephen Piscotty singled home Molina to make it 4-1.
The seventh inning snapped a streak of 20 innings without an earned run allowed by the Dodgers’ bullpen. J.P. Howell (1-1) took the loss after the go-ahead run charged to him.
St. Louis tacked on one more in the eighth off Blanton when Randal Grichuk doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Aledmys Diaz. Blanton wound up yielding three runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager hit a pair of solo home runs for his first career multi-homer game. Seager tied the game at 1-1 with a blast off Cardinals starter Mike Leake in the third inning, and he drove a 2-0 fastball by Kevin Seigrist into the right field stands in the eighth to make the score 5-2.
Seager, who homered in a second game in a row, has six on the season, tied for fourth among major league rookies.
Leake (2-3) pitched six innings of one-run ball, giving up four hits, walking two and striking out three.
Trevor Rosenthal earned the save, his seventh, with one inning of scoreless relief.
For the third time in his last four starts, Los Angeles’ Alex Wood didn’t receive a decision. Wood went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out five.
With two on and one out in the fourth inning, Yasiel Puig drove one back to deep center field, but St. Louis’ Randal Grichuk tracked it down and made the catch at the wall, denying Puig of extra bases and keeping the game tied at 1-1.
Carpenter put the Cardinals on the board in the third inning with a solo home run off of Wood, his eighth of the season.
NOTES: Dodgers UT Howie Kendrick made his seventh start in left field. The career infielder has seen sporadic starts in the outfield in order to get at-bats. … Los Angeles LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder surgery) made his first rehab start Sunday, pitching two scoreless innings for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. … Dodgers OF Scott Van Slyke (back) is expected to make a rehab start later this week. Van Slyke took batting practice and threw on the field before the game Sunday. His progression is ahead of schedule. … Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz moved up to fifth in the batting order on Sunday. … Matt Holliday, normally the Cardinals’ left fielder, started at first base for the fifth time this season Sunday. … Cardinals OF Jeremy Hazelbaker returned to the lineup Sunday, one day after hitting a pinch, two-run home run in the ninth inning off LHP Scott Kazmir.