Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1
Allen Craig singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning and visiting St. Louis won the opener of the four-game series.
Lance Lynn (15-7) allowed one run over six innings and Jason Motte recorded his 34th save for the Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak and moved two games ahead of the Dodgers in the race for the second wild card berth in the National League.
The Cardinals broke a 1-all tie in the seventh when Shane Robinson walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on Matt Carpenter’s single and scored on Craig’s two-out single off Steven “Paco” Rodriguez (0-1).
Los Angeles took an early lead on Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI double in the first before St. Louis answered in the second inning on Skip Schumaker’s run-scoring single off Josh Beckett, who gave up one run over 5 1/3 frames.
The Cardinals won for just the fifth time in their last 16 games, while Los Angeles has dropped seven of its last eight. The Dodgers were outhit 10-6 and had only one runner advance past first base after the first inning.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cardinals improved to 7-16 in one-run road games. … The Dodgers have been unsuccessful in their last five stolen base attempts after being thrown out twice on Thursday. … St. Louis won for the second time in its last 10 road games.