ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals and Dodgers appeared headed for extra innings, but Dexter Fowler had other plans.
Fowler broke a 1-1 tie with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, sending the Cardinals home back at the .500 mark with a 2-1 victory. The blast was Fowler's seventh of the season and was crushed an estimated 429 feet.
The game wasn't billed as a pitchers' duel, but that's what fans ended up getting. Carlos Martinez and Hyun-Jin Ryu went toe-to-toe, each giving up just one run in their outings, though Martinez went eight innings compared to Ryu's six.
However, the Cardinals got on the board early, as rookie infielder Paul DeJong continued his hot streak. DeJong doubled home Tommy Pham in the bottom of the second to put the Cardinals on top, 1-0.
Then it was the Martinez show. Martinez, continuing his recent run of stellar starts, kept the Dodgers off-balance almost all night, striking out nine and only allowing four hits in his eight frames of work.
At one point in the game, Martinez kept the Dodgers out of the hit column for 13 consecutive batters.
His lone hiccup came in the sixth, when he issued a one-out walk to shortstop Corey Seager. After catcher Yasmani Grandal singled Seager to third base, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center field.
But once again with Martinez on the mound, the Cardinals were unable to prop him up with run support. Including Wednesday night, the Cardinals have scored just three runs in Martinez's last three starts combined. The Cardinals struggled all night against Ryu, getting just three hits in Ryu's six innings of work.
The Cardinals had another chance to increase their lead in the fourth, when right fielder Stephen Piscotty doubled in his first came back with the club, but he was stranded on second after DeJong grounded out back to Ryu.
Their lone run came off the bat of DeJong, until Fowler's home run in the eighth broke the tie.
Closer Seung-hwan Oh came on in the ninth, and after Adrian Gonzalez opened the inning with a single, Oh set down the next three batters in order for his 12th save of the season.
The Cardinals and Dodgers wrap up their four-game series Thursday afternoon beginning at 12:45 p.m. Adam Wainwright and Brandon McCarthy face off on the hill.
