Dodgers Lucky Number Is 7
Shawon Dunston made a big mistake, and the Los Angeles Dodgers made the most of it.
Dunston, filling in at third base for ailing Fernando Tatis, made an error that opened the gates for a seven-run, seventh inning that gave the Dodgers a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
St. Louis led 1-0 behind rookie pitcher Jose Jimenez with two outs and no one on in the seventh before the Dodgers loaded the bases on two singles and a walk to pitcher Kevin Brown.
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"That's what you get when you overthink and try too hard," said Dunston, who started at third after Tatis came down with the flu. "I'm going to take it like a man. There's nothing more embarrassing."
"Don't feel bad for me. Feel bad for (Jimenez). He was pitch for pitch with the best pitcher in baseball, and I make a bonehead play that cost us the game."
Young said he knew how Dunston felt.
"If you expect someone to be there and they're not, there's nothing you can do," Young said. "I can't say anything because I've had it happen to me."
The error allowed Young, who was credited with one RBI on the play, to reach second. Adrian Beltre then drove home Young with a single to make it 4-1. Raul Mondesi later had a two-run double, and Todd Hundley added an RBI single before Karros grounded out to end the inning.
"It was a tight game until the seventh inning," Brown said. "I don't know if he (Jimenez) lost his rhythm or what. The team took advantage of an opportunity. They kept scratching and battling."
"It seems like a lot of times it's just one bad inning," Jimenez said. "I know I can do better than that."
Brown (4-2) pitched seven strong innings, holding the Cardinals to one run and five hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks. He gave up only one hit after the third inning, a two-out single by Darren ragg in the sixth.
Alan Mills pitched the last two innings for the Dodgers, giving up a two-run homer to Ray Lankford in the eighth.
Jimenez (2-4) gave up seven hits and six runs in 6 2-3 innings.
"It was nice to see us start swinging the bats," said Los Angeles manager Davey Johnson. "We were real quiet and then we erupted."
The Cardinals, who are 2-5 so far in their nine-game homestand, took a 1-0 lead in the second on Eli Marrero's RBI single.
After Mark McGwire walked to start the eighth, Lankford homered off the foul pole in right to cut the Dodgers' lead to 7-3.
Notes: In their last nine games, St. Louis has been outscored 72-35 and outhit 111-64. ... After going 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his first three starts, Jimenez is 0-4 in his last four starts with a 9.86 ERA. ... Gary Sheffield, who singled and scored in the seventh, has scored 14 runs in 12 games this month for the Dodgers. ... Cardinals left fielder J.D. Drew, who has been bothered by an injury to his left quadriceps muscle, started for just the second time since May 3. ... On Saturday, Chan Ho Park will face the Cardinals for the first time since he allowed two grand slams in the same inning to Tatis April 23. ... Dodgers center fielder Devon White missed his fourth consecutive game with tightness in his right hamstring and remains day to day.
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