Cardinals 0 - 2 Dodgers
Final
  for this game

Cards go for series win at Dodger Stadium

Jun 6, 2015 - 1:43 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The St. Louis Cardinals can win big or small, just as long as they come out on top.

The Cardinals have taken the first two installments of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers and shoot for a fourth consecutive series triumph Saturday night at Chavez Ravine.

St. Louis handed the Dodgers a 7-1 defeat on Thursday, then squeezed out a 2-1 verdict Friday night thanks to a two-run eighth inning. Kolton Wong singled home Pete Kozma for the tying run and Jason Heyward scored the go-ahead run on Matt Carpenter's sacrifice fly.

Carlos Martinez was brilliant in the start for the NL Central-leading Cardinals and tossed seven innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts and four walks. Martinez gave up just three hits and Trevor Rosenthal struck out two in the ninth for his 18th save.

"It was a good night," Martinez said. "I was overthrowing early and then I settled down. I stayed focused. I mixed things up a lot."

Jaime Garcia hopes to follow suit when he takes the mound for the Cards Saturday night. Garcia is 1-2 with a 2.70 earned run average in three starts and suffered a hard-luck loss in Monday's 1-0 decision to Milwaukee, charged with the lone run and three hits over seven innings.

Garcia has faced the Dodgers five times (4 starts) in his career and is 2-1 with a 5.31 ERA across 20 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals have won four in a row and 10 of 12 games, and have a 6 1/2-game lead on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the division.

Los Angeles is only a half-game ahead of the San Francisco Giants for the NL West lead and has lost three straight and seven of 10 games.

Brett Anderson was dealt the tough-luck loss last night and yielded both runs in seven innings of work. Joc Pederson was credited with the lone RBI.

"Brett pitched really good," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "Unfortunately he got the L."

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw gets the nod Saturday and is 4-3 with a 3.73 earned run average through 11 starts. The left-hander and three-time NL Cy Young Award winner has won two straight and three of four starts, and threw seven innings of one-run ball in Monday's 11-4 win at Colorado.

Kershaw tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 in an 8-0 win over Atlanta on May 26 and the Dodgers are 4-1 in his last five outings. In 14 career starts against the Cardinals, Kershaw is 5-5 with a 3.46 ERA. He struggled against the Cardinals in last season's playoffs.

The Cardinals and Dodgers are meeting for the second time this season, with St. Louis having won two of three encounters at home from May 29-31. That came after the Cardinals ousted the Dodgers in each of the previous two postseasons, the 2013 NL Championship Series and last year's NL Divisional Series.






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