Walk-off loss a bitter end to West Coast trip

LOS ANGELES -- Carrying a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium doesn’t bode well for most teams. The Cardinals learned why on Wednesday afternoon.

With two runners in scoring position and two out, Russell Martin bounced a two-run single to center field off Carlos Martínez, handing the Cardinals a 2-1 walk-off loss and their fifth straight defeat. It sent the Cards home without a win on this five-game road trip through Oakland and Los Angeles -- St. Louis' first multi-series winless trip to California since 1960.

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Before Wednesday’s game, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt described the trip against the A’s and Dodgers first as frustrating, but then decided that inconsistent was a better term. Before Wednesday, the Cards weren’t able to get the big hit -- like in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss -- or a lengthy start when needed, like in Monday’s 8-0 loss.

The Cardinals were hoping to salvage at least one game on the trip Wednesday, and they got both the start from Jack Flaherty and the damage from Marcell Ozuna to do so. Flaherty, pitching just 10 miles from where he grew up in Burbank, Calif., threw seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 Dodgers, lowering his ERA over his last six starts to 0.94. Ozuna launched his 21st home run of the season to give the Cards the lead in the top of the sixth inning.

“The reality of it is we executed all game,” Shildt said. “Executed for eight and a half innings. Hard-fought game. Jack was stellar across the board. But hit by pitch, 0-2 pitch, wild pitch, they made us pay.”

After Giovanny Gallegos put up a scoreless eighth, Shildt turned to Andrew Miller for the ninth. Miller got Cody Bellinger to ground out, but he hit Corey Seager, prompting St. Louis to turn to Martinez, who hadn’t pitched since July 30.

“It was a fastball, and it was probably the biggest miss I’ve had in a long time,” Miller said. “As far as where the ball ended up and the command. I put Carlos in a bad spot, and that’s on me.”

Martinez put Will Smith in an 0-2 count before throwing a fastball down the middle for a single. Then, in the middle of an Edwin Ríos strikeout, Martinez threw a fastball that turned into a wild pitch to put the runners on second and third. Martin then hit a soft two-hopper up in the middle that barely got under shortstop Paul DeJong's glove.

“It was where I wanted it, it was a good pitch, I wanted a ground ball or a strikeout,” Martinez said through a translator. “He swung the bat, I got a ground ball. Unlucky for us, it went through. I’m the closer. I have to be ready for any situation, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since the last time I’ve pitched. I need to focus and I need to be ready for any situation.”

Just as quickly as the ninth inning unraveled Wednesday, so too did the Cardinals’ lead in the division because of the winless road trip. It was only last Thursday that the Cards were in first place in the National League Central, but they’re now 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs.

St. Louis, looking to end a three-year playoff drought, had the chance to make a statement against two contending teams on the West Coast, but the results didn’t follow.

“We have to just move on,” Miller said. “We learn from things not going well, but ultimately, you have to have a short memory. I know we’ve been saying a lot this year, I’ve been saying it a lot about myself. I think everybody in here believes in themselves and the group we have, but we have to go back it up.

“Fortunately for us, our division is battling and kind of doing the same thing, so it’s not like we’re out of anything. I think we all know we need to play better, and I think we have to move on from this West Coast trip.”