The Los Angeles Dodgers will seek to even their National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at one game a piece tonight at Dodger Stadium after being unable to hold a five-run advantage in Game 1.
The Cardinals scored eight runs in the seventh inning, six off Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw, in a 10-9 victory Friday night before a capacity crowd announced at 54,265.
“Other than that one inning, we didn’t really have any mistakes,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said. “We played good baseball, had good at bats. We just couldn’t get them out that one inning.”
Zack Greinke will start on the mound for the Dodgers tonight, facing Lance Lynn in a matchup of right-handers.
Greinke was 1-1 in two starts against the Cardinals this season with a 3.55 ERA. Lynn was 1-1 against the Dodgers with a 9.00 ERA.
Auto gates will open at 3:30 p.m. and stadium gates at 4 p.m. for the sold-out game. Pregame ceremonies will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the first pitch at 6:37 p.m.
The game will be televised by MLB Network. Information on where it can be found on specific cable or satellite systems is available on its website, mlb.com/network.
Former Dodger star shortstop Maury Wills, now a special instructor with the team, will throw the ceremonial first pitch. Recording artist Tinashe will perform the national anthem.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Robert Warren of Palmdale will be honored as the Veteran of the Game. Warren has served deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and is currently assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion Unit West, recovering from injures sustained on both deployments.
Warren’s accolades include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a Combat V device for valor and two Combat Action Ribbons.
Derrel Thomas, an infielder-outfielder on the Dodgers’ 1981 World Series championship team, will sign autographs in the right field pavilion plaza from 4-6:15 p.m., the same time “Sweet” Lou Johnson, an outfielder on the Dodgers’ 1965 World Series championship team will be signing autographs in the left field pavilion plaza.
A special extreme loaded hot dog, the Playoff Dog, an all-beef hot dog on a pretzel roll topped with pastrami, pickle spears and Octoberfest mustard, will be available at extreme loaded dog concession stands on Dodger Stadium’s field, loge and reserve levels.
Other special postseason food offerings include:
— the BBQ Beef Brisket Burger, which features a one-third pound burger topped with American cheese, Think Blue BBQ beef brisket, Stout BBQ sauce and fried onions and pickles. It will be available at the Elysian Park Grills on the loge, reserve and top deck levels and field level Dodger Dog Stands in Sections 22 and 23;
— the Think Blue BBQ “Grand Slam” Playoff Platter, which includes beef brisket, pulled pork, roasted corn, potato salad, coleslaw and corn bread. It will be available in the Think Blue BBQ in the left field pavilion plaza;
— a Gelato Ice Cream Sandwich, Lasorda’s gelato ice cream smashed between two chocolate chip cookies. It will be available at Tommy Lasorda’s Trattoria in the right-field pavilion plaza.
The Cardinals combined five singles, a walk, Matt Carpenter’s three-run double and Matt Holiday’s two-run homer for their eight seventh-inning runs, which gave them a 10-6 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the Dodgers. The Dodgers pulled to within 10-9 when A.J. Ellis scored on Dee Gordon’s ground out in the ninth, cutting St. Louis’ lead to 10-9. However, the next batter, Yasiel Puig, struck out to end the game.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Mattingly said. “We got four down there, it would have been easy to go away. Our guys kept battling.”
Kershaw allowed eight runs (all earned) in 6 2/3 innings, matching the amount of earned runs he allowed in all of September. Coincidentally, Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright allowed six runs (all earned) in 4 1/3 innings, matching the amount of earned runs he allowed in all of September.
Kershaw allowed a solo home run to the second batter he faced, Randall Grichuk, then retired the next 16 batters, until Carpenter’s sixth-inning solo homer.
The Dodgers built a 6-1 lead. They scored twice in the third as Hanley Ramirez singled in Puig, who was hit by a pitch, and Carl Crawford doubled in Ramirez, and twice in the fourth on RBI singles by Puig and Matt Kemp. Ellis hit a two-run homer in the fifth.
The benches cleared after Puig was hit up and in on the shoulder, but there were no ejections.
