Dodgers bounce back to beat Cards
LOS ANGELES: Miguel Vargas was already excited after hitting his first major league home run Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Then the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman got another big thrill when he was congratulated by Albert Pujols.
The veteran St. Louis slugger gave his regards to the rookie after getting aboard with a base hit during the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the Cardinals.
“I didn’t know what to say. He’s like an icon for Latin guys,” Vargas said. “I’m just trying to look at him like, ‘wow, I got Albert Pujols on my side’ and I got super excited for it.”
On the night after Pujols became the fourth player to reach 700 career home runs, the NL West champion Dodgers used the long ball to snap out of a slump in which they had dropped three of four — including an 11-0 blowout by the Cardinals on Friday.
Will Smith and Trayce Thompson also went deep for Los Angeles, which provided plenty of support for Clayton Kershaw to win his third straight start.
“Will got us on the board and then after that Clayton took it and ran and I threw the baseball well,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Pujols went 1 for 4 and Nolan Arenado homered for the Cardinals, but their NL Central lead dropped to 6 1/2 games over Milwaukee.
Vargas started at first base after major league batting leader Freddie Freeman was scratched from the lineup due to illness. With Austin Barnes aboard in the second, Vargas hit a 93.5 mph fastball from Jordan Montgomery (8-6) into the center-field stands to make it 4-0.
The 22-year-old Vargas — the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year in 2021 — couldn’t stifle a wide grin as he rounded first base.
“I wasn’t looking at the ball. I just ran the bases and saw the crowd going wild,” Vargas said. “There was a lot of emotion. I was trying to enjoy the moment.”
Kershaw (10-3) struck out seven in six innings and allowed two runs on six hits. The left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts since coming off the injured list. He was sidelined nearly a month due to lower back pain.
“I gave up a lot of hits tonight, which I’m not happy about. And obviously the home run, which wasn’t great, but overall, it was OK,” Kershaw said. “Guys put up some runs early, which is huge for us, and we were able to get back in the win column.”