Thomas Saggese hit two home runs, Jordan Walker also went deep and the St. Louis Cardinals finished with five homers while opening a key nine-game road trip with a 13-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
Ramon Urias and Joshua Baez added home runs and Leo Bernal had a two-run single in his major league debut as the Cardinals pulled within four games of the third and final wild-card spot in the National League.
St. Louis right-hander Michael McGreevy (6-9) wobbled through five innings, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks as he won for just the second time in his last nine starts.
Mookie Betts had two doubles and drove in four runs for the Dodgers, who lost for the fifth time in their past seven games. Left-hander Eric Lauer (8-7) had his worst start in a Los Angeles uniform since he was acquired in a May trade by allowing seven runs on eight hits with a walk in three innings.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith went 1-for-5 with two RBIs in his return after missing nearly three months with neck inflammation.
The Cardinals gave a sign of things to come when Urias and Saggese hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning.
St. Louis added five more runs against Lauer in the third, with two coming on Bernal’s first career hit, a single to center. Bernal, a top prospect in the Cardinals’ system, was called up Tuesday when rosters expanded.
Betts hit a three-run double in the third inning for the Dodgers before Walker answered with a two-run home run in the fourth, his 28th.
Saggese’s second home run of the game, and third on the season, came in the fifth for a 10-3 lead. He entered with four home runs in 134 career games over parts of three seasons.
Betts had an RBI double for the Dodgers in the fifth.
Baez gave the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the seventh with St. Louis’ fifth home run to tie a season high. St. Louis scored two more times in the eighth on a wild pitch and a Jose Fermin sacrifice fly.
Smith had an RBI double in the seventh and a run-scoring fielder’s choice in a three-run ninth for the Dodgers.