Yohel Pozo’s pinch-hit single sends Cardinals past Dodgers

Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera hit home runs, Yohel Pozo delivered a go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals pulled off a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray shook off recent struggles to give up one run on one hit over seven innings as St. Louis improved to 2-2 on a six-game road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles. Gray, who struck out eight and walked one, permitted 17 earned runs and 30 hits over his previous three outings combined.
Freddie Freeman homered and Tyler Glasnow went seven strong innings, but the Dodgers still lost in the opener of a six-game homestand.
Glasnow yielded one run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. It was his second seven-inning outing in five starts since returning from a 2 1/2-month stint on the injured list caused by shoulder inflammation.
The Cardinals’ go-ahead run in the ninth came against new Dodgers right-hander Brock Stewart, who was acquired at the trade deadline Thursday from the Minnesota Twins.
Minnesota greeted Stewart (2-2) with consecutive singles by Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar. Two outs later, Pozo singled to right-center for a one-run lead.
Shohei Ohtani led off the Dodgers’ ninth with a single off left-hander JoJo Romero, but Mookie Betts was robbed of a hit on a diving catch from Nootbaar in right field. Romero closed it out for his second save.
Winn gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a home run to left field in the second inning, his eighth of the year. The Dodgers got even in the fourth on Freeman’s home run to right field, his 13th of the season and third in five games.
The Cardinals took a brief 2-1 lead on Herrera’s home run off left-hander Anthony Banda in the eighth, his 10th. The Dodgers tied in the bottom of the frame on a leadoff double from Teoscar Hernandez and consecutive groundouts.
St. Louis right-hander Riley O’Brien (1-0) picked up his first career win despite giving up a run in the eighth.