ST. LOUIS - A late home run by Dexter Fowler and a strong outing by Carlos Martinez helped the St. Louis Cardinals end the Los Angeles Dodgers' winning streak.
Fowler hit the tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to back Martinez and give the Cardinals a 2-1 victory against the Dodgers Wednesday night.
"It's been a tough stretch against L.A." Martinez said through an interpreter. "We lost the last two so I was really focused going into this game because I wanted to win it."
Martinez (4-4) allowed one run on four hits while striking out nine as he pitched eight innings to help St. Louis snap a three-game losing streak.
"The guy comes in and can put a stop to a tough run," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We needed a special performance and he answered."
Fowler had a premonition before the game that a homer would come into play.
"I told somebody before the game, we're going to hit it over the wall," Fowler said. "I can't hit it to anybody."
Ross Stripling (0-3) lost for the first time since April 26 as he surrendered Fowler's seventh home run of the season, a 429-foot shot to right-center field. The Dodgers saw their six-game winning streak end.
"You want to win them all but I think for us it's, obviously, in the midst of a nice streak," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "But we want to play good baseball and they pitched well and they beat us tonight."
Seung-Hwan Oh pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities this season.
Hyun-Jin Ryu returned to the rotation in place of Alex Wood after earning the save last Wednesday, May 24 versus St. Louis in his first career relief appearance. Ryu allowed one run on three hits in six innings in his first start since May 11 at Colorado.
"(Ryu) matched (Martinez) pitch for pitch but in that seventh inning we had to take a chance on scoring a run," Roberts said. "So we fired that bullet and went to Ross who was fresh and rested."
Cardinals rookie second baseman Paul DeJong drove in Tommy Pham in the second inning after Chris Taylor initially broke in on a ball that ultimately went over his head for a double. The run was St. Louis' first with Martinez on the mound since May 13.
Los Angeles tied the game at 1 in the sixth inning on Adrian Gonzalez's sacrifice fly that drove in Corey Seager.
Notes: Cardinals RF Stephen Piscotty returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games to be back with his family in California after his mother was diagnosed with ALS. Roberts celebrated his forty-fifth birthday. He said, "I got coffee and scouted the Cardinals," to revel in the occasion. 3B Jedd Gyorko was back with the club after his wife, Karley, gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Brooklyn Ellee, at 7:46 p.m. on Tuesday. Gyorko will go on the paternity list and miss the club's games Friday and Saturday in Chicago before returning to the team Sunday. Dodgers INF Justin Turner (strained right hamstring) took swings in the batting cage and ran at about 70 percent pregame. "When he'll return, I still don't know," Roberts said. "We're still for me, realistically, a week away for him to think about being back with us." Prior to the game the Cardinals released RHP Jonathan Broxton and recalled RHP John Gant from Triple-A Memphis. Gant opened the season on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right groin before being optioned to Memphis on May 16. Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy (5-1, 3.28 ERA) is 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (5-3, 4.20 ERA) has not lost since April 16 and has gone 5-0 with a 3.21 ERA since then.
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