The St Louis Cardinals nearly buckled in the ninth inning, but were able to record the final out and hold off the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Saturday, May 2 at Busch Stadium.

Cardinals pitching kept the Dodgers off the board for eight innings. Riley O’Brien recorded a strikeout of Freddie Freeman and a lineout of Will Smith to start the ninth, but an unsuccessful challenge opened the door for Kyle Tucker to spark the rally effort with a single. O’Brien then allowed singles to Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy, and Andy Pages to score two runs. Pinch hitter Dalton Rushing came to the plate with a chance to give LA the lead, but O’Brien locked in and coaxes Rushing to swing on a sweeper for the final out.

All three Cardinal runs came in the third inning. A leadoff double by Iván Herrera was followed by an RBI double by Alec Burleson. Jordan Walker followed up with his tenth home run of the year, resulting in all three earned runs that were charged to starter Roki Sasaki. He took the loss, going six innings and allowing five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Michael McGreevy went six innings and allowed three hits and three walks, while striking out three for the win. He along with JoJo Romero each recorded a strikeout of Shohei Ohtani as part of the eight punchouts by Cardinals pitching. The Cardinals also kept LA from scoring before the ninth by turning four double plays and limiting the Dodgers to four hits.

Now 20-13 and a game behind the Cubs for the NL Central lead, the Cardinals will task Dustin May with the chance to sweep the defending World Series Champs. Meanwhile, Justin Wrobleski takes the mound for LA with a 4-0 record. First pitch at Busch Stadium is at 1:15 p.m.