Dodgers ride Puig HR spree into 1st

ST. LOUIS — Yasiel Puig has never missed a postseason since making his major-league debut in 2013, and he doesn’t plan on ending that run.

Puig homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, giving him five homers in two games, and the Dodgers routed the Cardinals 17-4 Saturday to move into first place in the National League West by a halfgame over the Rockies.

“We want to be back in the playoffs, like every year.” Puig said. “We need to play like a team, like family, hard every day, every pitch, in every situation.”

Puig hit a solo homer in the fourth off John Gant (7-6) and three-run drives in the fifth against Mike Mayers and in the seventh versus Luke Weaver. Puig raised his season total to 21 homers with the first threehomer game of his career. He became the fourth Dodgers hitter since 2000 with consecutive multihomer games after Cody Bellinger, Adrian Beltre, and Shawn Green.

“He’s focused, and he understands the importance of every pitch,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “For him to be as productive, have that day, get us on the board, have some space with the score, we needed every bit of it today. Guys fed off of his energy.”

Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Weaver and had a career-high six RBIs. The defending NL champions have won four consecutive games and nine of their last 14.

“Once you see him do it, you’re like, oh, I can do this,” Bellinger said of Puig. “I think that’s just for everybody. That’s why it’s so contagious. We’ve got a good thing going and we’re going to try and keep it going.”

The Cardinals have lost four straight and eight of their last 13.