The Los Angeles Dodgers offense finally awakened against the St. Louis Cardinals, but a disastrous pitching collapse surrendered five home runs.
Now 82-56, the Los Angeles Dodgers have dropped five of their last seven games.
This team had put together a dominant six-game winning streak that saw them sweep both the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates to improve to 80-51, but they've been trending in the wrong direction since then.
That was highlighted by their recent 13-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that ESPN believes only has a 2.5% chance to make the playoffs.
While it was great to see the Dodgers offense come alive with eight runs, their pitching staff looked horrendous and proved that a potential three-peat could be in jeopardy.
Dodgers allow five homers; Cardinals post 13 runs, 13 hits
The obvious bad news coming out of this series opener is the fact that the Cardinals absolutely crushed the Dodgers.
St. Louis came into this game having lost two in a row to the Pirates, the same Pirates team the Dodgers swept from Aug. 21-23.
Officially, 13 runs is the most the Dodgers have given up in a game since Sunday, June 7, when they lost 13-5 to the Los Angeles Angels.
To no surprise, that number is tied for the most runs they've given up in a game all year.
Eric Lauer allowed two home runs himself as he lasted just three innings. The Dodgers thought they could trust him back in the starting lineup, but he allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and only had nine outs to show for it.
Seth Halvorsen, Alex Vesia, and even newly named reliever Justin Wrobleski allowed home runs after Lauer was removed from the game.
Three of the five hits the Dodgers bullpen allowed were home runs, and it's worth noting the Cardinals scored a run in all but the first, sixth, and ninth innings.
Dodgers scored their most runs in a game since Aug. 17
It's been 15 days since the last time the Dodgers scored this many runs, so they have to take these moral victories when they can.
Time and time again, the talk of the town was in regard to the Dodgers' offense and if they had enough in the tank to get them to a third straight World Series title.
Not a single Dodgers player hit a homer in this game, but it was a four-RBI night for Mookie Betts, and Will Smith joined the party with a pair of RBIs himself.
In the end, they left nine runners on base and had 10 hitless appearances with a runner in scoring position, which undoubtedly led to their demise.
