LOS ANGELES – Joe Kelly endeared himself to Dodger fans forever with a pouty face and a Mariachi jacket.
His pitching has been less mural-worthy.
Called on to protect a two-run lead in the seventh inning of a soggy Saturday night, Kelly put a real damper on things, allowing five runs in a sequence that included a walk, hit batter, catcher’s interference and a confusing balk call as well.
The Dodgers came back to tie the game but lost for the first time on American soil this season, 6-5 in 10 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Kelly’s difficulties overshadowed Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s second chance at making a first impression.
Yamamoto’s major-league debut nine days ago in Seoul, South Korea would have fit comfortably in the Dodgers’ 2023 National League Division Series. He lasted just one inning and gave up five runs.
His second start, however, was a long way from his first – in many ways.
Yamamoto retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced in his Dodger Stadium debut Saturday night, slowing down only for a 35-minute rain delay. The Dodgers sent him off with a 2-0 lead.
Hailed for his elite command when he signed with the Dodgers last winter, Yamamoto had none of it in his one miserable inning against the San Diego Padres. He needed 43 pitches just to get through that inning during which he walked a batter, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and barely threw more strikes (23) than balls (20).
He was sharper from the start Saturday, striking out the side in the first inning and retiring 12 of 13 batters before rain stopped play after the fourth inning. Yamamoto went back out after the rain delay, gave up another hit (a two-out double to Alec Burleson) but put up another zero.
Lance Lynn was part of that NLDS rotation. Back with the Cardinals this season, the Dodgers had him on the ropes in the first two innings. Seven of their first 10 at-bats in the game came with runners in scoring position but they stranded five runners in those first two innings and couldn’t score until after the rain delay when Matthew Liberatore replaced Lynn.
Freeman and Smith had back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth inning and Daniel Hudson handed the 2-0 lead over to Kelly for the seventh.
It was immediately in jeopardy. Kelly walked the first batter he faced and hit the next. A catcher’s interference call on Smith loaded the bases with no outs.
Ivan Herrera drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and Burleson tied the game with an RBI single. Brandon Crawford reloaded the bases with a single, setting up an odd sequence.
Victor Scott II seemed to line out to left field for the second out of the inning. But third-base umpire Ryan Blakney had called Kelly for a balk on the pitch, negating the fly out and sending Matt Carpenter home with the go-ahead run.
Scott stayed in the box and popped out. But Brendan Donovan bouned a ground-rule double into the seats in the right-field corner to drive in two more runs and end Kelly’s night.
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Six of the eight batters Kelly faced were left-handed hitters but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not go to his lone lefty in the bullpen, Alex Vesia (Ryan Yarbrough pitched three innings two nights ago), until after the damage was done.
Smith had a two-out RBI single in the seventh and Mookie Betts made it a one-run game with a solo home run in the ninth — his fourth consecutive game with a home run.
Back-to-back two-out singles by Freeman and Smith put the tying and winning runs on base for Max Muncy who tied the game with a single to center field.
The Cardinals cashed in their free runner with a pair of ground outs in the top of the 10th. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs for Shohei Ohtani but he popped out.
The Dodgers stranded 13 runners on base in the loss.