Cardinals 3,, Dodgers 0
ST. LOUIS -- John Lackey entered Friday night's start with a career earned run average of 1.93 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander showed why, tossing seven scoreless innings and striking out nine in a 3-0 shutout at sold-out Busch Stadium.
Throwing 66 of his 96 pitches for strikes, Lackey (3-3) gave up five hits and one walk. He picked up at least one strikeout in every inning, including whiffs of right fielder Andre Ethier and catcher A.J. Ellis in the seventh after Los Angeles opened with singles from first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and third baseman Justin Turner.
Suffering their fourth straight road shutout, the Dodgers (28-19) appeared to get more frustrated with the strike zone of plate umpire Mike Winters as the night progressed.
It boiled over in the seventh. Manager Don Mattingly was booted after Ethier took a third strike and Ellis was kicked out after reliever J.P. Howell walked Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter in the bottom of the inning.
St. Louis shortstop Jhonny Peralta doubled twice, his second two-bagger driving in second baseman Kolten Wong in the seventh to wrap up the scoring.
Los Angeles starter Mike Bolsinger (3-1) scattered seven hits in six innings and gave up two runs, walking three and fanning three. Bolsingler gave up just two runs in 25 1/3 innings in his first four starts.
Closer Trevor Rosenthal notched his 14th save for the Cardinals (32-16), who won their fifth straight game and improved to 19-5 at home.
St. Louis scored in the first inning for the fifth straight game on a double-play grounder by left fielder Randal Grichuk that plated Wong, who led off with a double and advanced to third on a single by third baseman Matt Carpenter.
The Cardinals made it 2-0 in the third on two-out doubles by shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Grichuk. Los Angeles left fielder Alex Guerrero misplayed Grichuk's ball, coming in at first and then flagging at it in vain as it sailed over his head.
Lackey dominated the Dodgers in the first five innings, allowing just two singles and a walk while fanning six -- half on called third strikes.
NOTES: St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (flu-like symptoms) was held out of Friday night's lineup. Holliday set a National League record Wednesday night by reaching base in 43 straight games to start the season. ... Los Angeles C Yasmani Grandal (concussion) served as the designated hitter for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday at Salt Lake City, going 2-for-4 with three runs, a double and two walks. The team expects to activate Grandal from the seven-day concussion DL on Saturday. ... Cardinals CF Jon Jay (left wrist) was activated from the 15-day DL on Friday. To make room for Jay, the team optioned RHP Miguel Socolovich to Triple-A Memphis.