ST. LOUIS _ Chase Utley, Cody Bellinger and Logan Forsythe launched homers, Rich Hill gave up one run in five innings and the Dodgers bullpen shut down the Cardinals in a 5-1 victory Monday at Busch Stadium. The Dodgers have now won 10 of their last 12.
Utley and Bellinger punished Cardinals starter Mike Leake. Forsythe supplied some insurance in the eighth inning. Confident in his relievers, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Hill after five innings. Hill gave up two hits as he bounced back from a rocky outing last week against St. Louis.
These two pitchers met five days ago. Leake bullied the Dodgers for eight innings. Hill sputtered without control. He walked a career-high seven batters while bubbling with rage at the umpire. His anger caused Roberts to visit the mound to calm him down, and his lack of command caused Roberts to wonder if Hill's blisters had resurfaced.
Hill pronounced himself healthy after the game. He blamed faulty mechanics, not damaged skin, for his trouble. He intended to spend the next four days fixing the glitches.
The alterations worked. Hill retired the first 10 batters he faced. By the fourth inning, his teammates had staked him a three-run lead.
Leake held the Dodgers to one run in their last encounter. The lineup doubled that total in Monday's third inning. Utley pounced on a changeup over the middle and deposited it in the seats in right-center field to lead off the inning.
Yasiel Puig followed with a single. He advanced to second on a bunt by Hill. Corey Seager singled up the middle. The groundball rolled past the outstretched form of Cardinals rookie second baseman Paul DeJong for a two-out RBI.
An inning later, Leake fell behind Bellinger, 3-0. The fourth pitch was a belt-high sinker. Bellinger made the ball disappear well beyond the fence in right field.
St. Louis mounted an offensive in the bottom of the inning. They did so without a hit. Cardinals second baseman Tommy Pham walked with one out, aided by umpire Mike Winters declining to award Hill a strike for a full-count curveball near the top of the zone. Hill hit the next batter, first baseman Matt Carpenter, with a full-count fastball. Pham scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jedd Gyorko.
Hill waded into more danger in the fifth. He gave up a pair of singles to start. After Logan Forsythe turned a double play, Hill faced Leake with a runner at third. Missing high and inside, Hill issued his second walk of the game.
The flirtation with disaster did not last long. Up came Dexter Fowler, who signed an $82-million contract with St. Louis this winter but entered the game with a .228 batting average. Hill left a curveball up in the strike zone. Fowler swung late. A harmless pop-up landed in Adrian Gonzalez's glove.
The Dodgers added a fourth run in the seventh. Chris Taylor led off with a walk. He went from first to third on a single by Utley. Puig plated him with a sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals botched an opening in the bottom of the inning. Roberts sent Sergio Romo to protect the lead. Romo served up a one-out double to DeJong. Soon after, Seager fumbled a grounder hit toward him. The ball bounced into left field. DeJong embraced youthful exuberance, rather than patience. He rounded third and got cut down by Bellinger's throw to the plate. The mistake allowed Romo to escape unscathed.
