LOS ANGELES – It was an epic showdown, all right, just not the one most anticipated.
What began as a marquee pitching matchup between former Southern California prep stars Trevor Bauer of the Dodgers and Jack Flaherty of the St.Louis Cardinals gave way to a battle royale between Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor and Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera.
The utility man and the hard-throwing left-hander stared each other down for 14 pitches Monday night, the tension rising throughout an at-bat that came with two outs, the bases loaded and the score tied in the bottom of the sixth inning, before Cabrera finally blinked.
After fouling off a total of eight two-strike pitches — six fastballs ranging from 97 to 99mph, an 82-mph curve and a 90-mph changeup — Taylor lashed a 97-mph fastball into the right-center-field gap for a three-run double to push the Dodgers toward a 9-4 victory before 18,071 at Dodger Stadium.
Taylor’s hit broke a 3-3 tie with the National League Central Division leaders, and the Dodgers pulled away with three more runs in the eighth to end a three-game losing streak.
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the second when Gavin Lux and Taylor hit back-to-back solo homers off Flaherty, Lux hitting a towering 378-foot drive to right for his fourth homer of the season and Taylor lining a 399-foot shot to left for his seventh.
But those were the only hits Flaherty, a former Harvard-Westlake High School star, gave up in a five-inning, 83-pitch start in which he struck out nine and walked one before departing because of left-side tightness.
Bauer, a Santa Clarita Hart High product, yielded one hit through five innings, Tommy Edman’s leadoff double in the first, and he caught a break when Edman over-slid the bag on what would have been a one-out steal of third base, the initial safe call overturned by replay.
Center fielder Cody Bellinger also made a nice leaping catch of Yadier Molina’s drive to the top of the wall to lead off the second, running a clean route and timing his jump perfectly.
But the Cardinals broke up Bauer’s shutout in the sixth when Justin Williams, who entered with a .152 batting average and three homers on the season, pulverized a 92-mph fastball, sending a leadoff homer high off the right-field foul pole.
Edman reached on second baseman Zach McKinstry’s second throwing error of the game, and Dylan Carlson crushed an 0-and-2 curve over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer and 3-2 lead.
The Dodgers countered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, Max Muncy sparking the rally with a one-out double to right-center off reliever Ryan Helsley. Justin Turner singled sharply to left, advancing Muncy to third, and Bellinger drew a walk from Cabrera to load the bases.
Will Smith took a full-count low-and-inside fastball for ball four to force in a run for a 3-3 tie, the 15th bases-loaded walk issued by the Cardinals this season. Their franchise record for bases loaded walks in a season is 17, set in 1974.
Taylor and Cabrera then went at it for 14 pitches — tied for the second-longest at-bat in the major leagues this season — before Taylor delivered the clutch hit that gave the Dodgers a 6-3 advantage.
Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts rounds first base after a ground ball and fielding error.
Tyler O’Neill’s solo homer off Bauer in the seventh cut the lead to 6-4, but Lux lined his second homer of the game, a solo shot off reliever Daniel Ponce de Leon, to right-center, for a 7-4 lead in the eighth, and the Dodgers tacked on two more insurance runs.
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