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LOS ANGELES – The St. gladiator Cardinals kept actuation at the plate, touch a bag separate for the eighth straightforward game. And this time, the slugger's study wasn't Pujols, Holliday or Berkman.

Allen Craig, starting in place of Lance Berkman, who got the period off, impact a three-run effort in the ordinal inning and the Cardinals routed the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 9-2 Saturday period to get their fourth in a bed and ordinal in heptad games.

"I didn't go discover there hunting to impact a bounteous night. Just proven to movement in and attain something happen," Craig said. "Last assemblage was a bounteous learning experience for me reaching soured the governance and not playing a lot. It's not easy reaching soured the bench, but I'm more prepared for it."

It was the ordinal straightforward mettlesome that the Cardinals scored sextet or more runs and the prototypal instance in sextet games that they didn't place up at least 14 hits. They had 13, including fivesome straightforward in the ninth soured Ramon Troncoso, to get their ordinal in a bed over Los Angeles.

"We're going to verify conformable at-bats," said Cardinals trainer Tony La Russa, who is fighting a severe correct eye infection. "Our approach is very competitive and sometimes it makes a difference."

Kyle McClellan (2-0) allowed digit separate and sextet hits in heptad innings, struck discover digit and walked none to acquire his ordinal field association conclusion as a starter in sextet days.

"I change good, the best I've change still this assemblage — including spring training," he said. "I just change at whatever instance I could intercommunicate a accomplish whenever I wanted."

The Dodgers started champion Clayton Kershaw (2-2), but he got into bases-loaded jams in the ordinal and ordinal patch busy finished 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing this season. The left-hander gave up fivesome runs and sextet hits, struck discover a season-low fivesome and walked a season-high fivesome patch throwing 111 pitches.

"I walked likewise whatever guys and threw absent likewise whatever pitches. I proven to effort my artefact finished it, but the bag separate did us in," Kershaw said. "When you're throwing heaps of pitches and battling, you've rattling got to ready your aggroup in the game. But after that bag run, a 5-1 advance is pretty thickened to become back from, especially when they're playing the artefact they are correct now."

The choler didn't wage him much support. Juan Uribe was hitless in quaternary at-bats as the Dodgers forfeited their ordinal in a bed and ordinal in heptad games.

"We've got to ready motion the page. We've got to get whatever momentum on our lateral and start swing whatever wins together," Dodgers trainer Don Mattingly said. "I impact confidence in what we're confident of doing."

Craig provided the Cardinals' noesis a period after Albert Pujols and Berkman apiece homered in serial at-bats. Pujols managed digit singles in fivesome at-bats and struck discover twice, patch Matt Holliday went 1 for 3 with digit walks and an RBI.

"That's how the mettlesome goes," Craig said. "We forfeited whatever close games early on that we belike could impact won. It's not to feature we're going to reason 10 runs every game."

Kershaw got discover of his prototypal bases-loaded jam in the ordinal by striking discover the final digit batters. In the third, however, he walked Holliday to load the bases again and king Freese's kill fly scored the Cardinals' prototypal run.

They took a 2-0 advance in the ordinal on Ryan Theriot's RBI double to unfathomable left.

The Dodgers revilement their deficit to 2-1 in the fourth. Andre Ethier, who went 3 for 4, singled to extend his field league-leading touch color to 13 games. He scored on saint Loney's grounder to first, as position Gerald Laird went up the ordinal base line to verify Pujols' intercommunicate and missed the sweep tag.

In the fifth, Pujols singled and Holliday walked before Craig's prototypal bingle of the flavour chased Kershaw and prefabricated it 5-1. It was the prototypal bingle Kershaw has allowed to whatever underway St. gladiator hitter.

NOTES: The Dodgers recalled Troncoso from Triple-A Albuquerque and settled LHP Hong-Chih Kuo on the 15-day disabled list with a mitt lower back strain, retrospective to Apr 14. "The good thing is it's not an elbow or shoulder. We see it's muscular," Mattingly said, adding that Kuo wouldn't intercommunicate for a pair of life patch undergoing tests. ... Thirteen of Craig's 24 career RBIs impact become with digit outs. ... Dodgers pinch-hitter Ivan De Savior Jr. singled in the ordinal for his prototypal field association hit. ... The Cardinals won their 1,000th mettlesome all-time against the Dodgers on weekday night. ... IndyCar driver Marco Andretti, in town for Sunday's Long Beach Grand Prix, threw discover the prototypal pitch, afloat the ball over the head of past Dodgers trainer blackamoor Lasorda, performing as catcher. Andretti got a ordinal chance and Lasorda caught it with Andretti's grandfather, Mario, hunting on. ... Dodgers GM Ned Colletti overturned 56.

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