LOS ANGELES _ At least there was no late-game anguish, no stirring comebacks wasted, no triumphant returns dashed. At least, by the ninth inning of a 5-2 loss to St. Louis, the outcome was not really in doubt. The Los Angeles Dodgers were going to lose, and it would hurt a little less than all the collapses that had proceeded it.
The loss still stung. But the Dodgers (67-60) have grown accustomed to losing this month. They've lost more than they've won, with an 8-11 record in August and eight defeats in their last 11 games. They've lost control of the National League West _ but at least they've established a firm foothold in third place, on track to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
A victory by Arizona steepened the Dodgers' in-division deficit to 3 { games. If the season ended on Tuesday, the Dodgers would not even qualify for the Wild Card Game. The season does not end on Tuesday. But it ends soon enough to wonder where this team might spend October.
The defeat on Tuesday lacked the emotional swells of Monday, when Kenley Jansen came back from an 11-day layoff caused by his heart condition, only to surrender two home runs in the ninth inning. The Dodgers fell behind in the third inning, when Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up a three-run homer, and saw the deficit grow when Daniel Hudson served up a two-run shot in the seventh.
The offense provided little response. They scored one run on a mistake by the opposing pitcher and another on a solo homer by Manny Machado. Otherwise the team struck out 10 times. They hit 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They stranded 11 men.
A sequence in the eighth inning displayed the strange brew of prodigious talent and imprecise execution that has followed the team all season: With two outs and Enrique Hernandez at first base, Joc Pederson cracked a 110-mph line drive into the torso of Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez. The impact crumpled Martinez to the ground. In the tumult that ensued, Hernandez got hung up trying to reach third base and was thrown out to end the inning with Justin Turner in the on-deck circle.
Before the game a reporter asked manager Dave Roberts about "putting the foot on the accelerator" as September approached. Roberts had little interest in the line of questioning.
"So to beg and plead for them to score eight runs a night?" Roberts said. "To beg and plead that guys don't give up a run? No."
He added, "Every single player knows that every single game is important. If I didn't believe that or know that, that's a different discussion. But there's not a player or coach who doesn't understand how important this game is tonight."
Before them on Tuesday stood a local product, Daniel Poncedeleon, a 26-year-old right-hander who grew up in La Mirada. He was making the second start of his big-league career. The Dodgers grabbed the lead off him in the second inning.
The bases loaded around Poncedeleon after a pair of singles fell in front of Cardinals right fielder Tyler O'Neill. Poncedeleon pumped a first-pitch fastball to Yasiel Puig. The ball grazed his left hand, which was enough to bring home Cody Bellinger from third base.
Ryu had returned from the disabled list on Wednesday after missing more than three months with a torn groin muscle. When he faced the Giants last week, he pitched as if no time had passed, with six scoreless innings of one-run baseball.
St. Louis presented more of a challenge. The Cardinals won 22 of their first 33 games after firing manager Mike Matheny before the All-Star break. The team hurled itself back into the playoff race, just as the Dodgers stumbled through August.
The Cardinals knocked Ryu around in the third. Harrison Bader, a rookie outfielder, led off with a single. A single by first baseman Jose Martinez tied the game. Martinez squared up a hanging curveball and shuttled it into center field.
Up next was Yadier Molina, the 36-year-old catcher, one of the last links to the Cardinals of Tony La Russa, Jim Edmonds and Albert Pujols. Ryu fell behind in the count. He tried to tie up Molina with an 88-mph fastball, up and away. Molina powered the baseball over the right-field fence for a two-run shot.
The Dodgers squandered a chance to answer in the fourth. They pressured Poncedeleon with a leadoff walk by Yasmani Grandal and a double by Chris Taylor. Grandal held at third base, with the team hopeful they could manufacture a rally.
The hopes were for naught. Puig could not catch up to Poncedeleon's fastball and swung through a 2-2 heater. Called in to hit for Ryu, Brian Dozier flailed at a cutter for a second out. Joc Pederson attacked a first-pitch, 93-mph fastball and managed only a lazy fly to center.
At least Pederson made contact. A night after striking out 12 times, the offense punched out eight times in Poncedeleon's four innings.
A similar opportunity vanished in the sixth. Grandal led off with a single. Puig reached when St. Louis reliever Luke Weaver threw away a tapper back to the mound. There were two on with one out as Roberts tried another pinch hitter: Matt Kemp.
Kemp had little to offer. He swung late on a pair of belt-high heaters. When umpire Jim Wolf rung him up on a 1-2 fastball, Kemp stuck around long enough to carp about the call. Pederson stranded the runners with a groundout.
As the offense sputtered, a reliever combusted. Hudson was an out away from escaping the seventh inning when he drilled O'Neill with a fastball. His next pitch was far more debilitating for the Dodgers.
Facing Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Hudson threw a lamentable slider. Grandal had called for the pitch low and away. Instead it hovered over the plate. Ozuna smashed a two-run homer beyond the left-field fence.
