ST. LOUIS _ It took a familiar face in an all-too familiar game for the Cardinals to eke past the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers.
A day after he had to absorb 1 2/3 sudden relief innings a mile above sea level, Dodgers reliever _ and former Cardinal _ Joe Kelly returned to earth and misplaced a one-run lead in the sixth inning. The Cardinals rallied for two runs against the right-hander and then held on for a 4-3 victory Monday night at Busch Stadium.
The go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch.
Matt Carpenter opened the inning with a single, and that brought Kelly in to face a series of right-handed batters in the Cardinals' lineup. Paul Goldschmidt greeted him with a walk and No. 3 hitter Jose Martinez lined a single to left field. Carpenter scored on Martinez's single to tie the game, and Goldschmidt followed him to third on a double play that momentarily gave Kelly an escape. He misfired on a pitch to Paul DeJong that allowed Goldschmidt to scoot home for the lead.
The Cardinals have trailed in all 10 games they've played this season. They have had a lead in nine of them. And eight of their games have been decided by two or fewer runs.
The Dodgers' winning streak halted at five.
Marcell Ozuna's two-run homer tied the game in the first and gave Miles Mikolas a needed reset. The right-hander went on to finish six innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He hit three batters during the game.
The Cardinals were able to capitalize when LA had to lean on its bullpen for the second consecutive game. In Denver, late Sunday, the Dodgers needed 5 1/3 innings from their bullpen in a 12-6 romp. Less than 24 hours later, starter Hyun-Jin Ryu left the game with a groin strain and required the bullpen to cover all but five outs of the game.
Once the Cardinals had the lead, John Gant built the bridge.
The right-hander pitched two scoreless and faced the minimum to get six outs. In the eighth, he walked Cody Bellinger, the NL's player of the week who leads the majors in homers, RBIs, and runs scored, and then got a key double play from Max Muncy to end the inning. That funneled a one-run game to Jordan Hicks, who was out to get his second save of the season and his second save in as many days.
Hicks struck out one and did not allow a ball beyond the reach of an infielder in his scoreless ninth.
