Mathews Gets the Ball as Cardinals Go for Sweep in LA
The Cardinal Chronicle
Mathews Gets the Ball as Cardinals Go for Sweep at Dodger Stadium
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals went to Los Angeles needing to prove there was still life left in September.
Now they have a chance to leave Dodger Stadium with a sweep.
After winning the first two games of the series against one of the National League’s best teams, St. Louis returns Thursday night with left-hander Quinn Mathews on the mound against Dodgers left-hander Tarik Skubal.
First pitch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. CT at Dodger Stadium.
The Cardinals enter at 70-70, back to .500 after consecutive wins over Los Angeles. The Dodgers come in at 82-57, still leading the National League West, but suddenly trying to avoid being swept at home by a Cardinals club that arrived in California carrying plenty of frustration.
That is what two nights can do.
Tuesday was loud. The Cardinals hit five home runs, scored 13 runs and opened the road trip with a 13-8 win. Thomas Saggese homered twice. Jordan Walker hit his 28th home run. Joshua Báez went deep. Leo Bernal made his major league debut and delivered his first career hit with a two-run single.
Wednesday was different.
It was not clean early. It was not easy late. It was not exactly how a manager would draw up a bullpen game at Dodger Stadium.
But it was a win.
The Cardinals rallied for an 8-6 victory in 10 innings after falling behind 3-0 in the first and 5-2 after six. Saggese continued his remarkable series with another home run and then drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th with an infield single. Báez followed with a two-run double, giving St. Louis the separation it needed.
Bernal added his first major league home run, a two-run shot in the seventh inning that pulled the Cardinals within one. Alec Burleson tied the game in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. Justin Bruihl worked a scoreless ninth against his former club, and Riley O’Brien handled the 10th for his 35th save.
The Cardinals used eight pitchers.
They still found a way.
That matters.
For much of the last few weeks, St. Louis has been the team explaining losses. Explaining injuries. Explaining short starts. Explaining why tomorrow still matters after today went sideways. In Los Angeles, at least for two nights, the Cardinals have been the team making the other club answer.
Now comes the hard part.
Finishing it.
Mathews enters at 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA, making his fifth major league start. The numbers are still settling, but this is an important spot for the rookie left-hander. The Cardinals have already asked their bullpen to carry too much, including Wednesday’s full bullpen game. They need Mathews to give them innings, not just survive the first turn through the lineup.
This is where development meets the standings.
The Cardinals need to learn about Mathews. They need to see how his stuff plays against elite lineups. They need to find out how he responds to big moments in difficult ballparks. But they also need to win games. September does not hand out bonus credit for learning experiences when the standings are still in play.
Mathews does not have to be perfect.
He does have to compete in the strike zone.
The Dodgers can still punish mistakes, even while they are scuffling. Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer Wednesday, ending a long power drought. Mookie Betts added a two-run homer. Tommy Edman, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández and the rest of the lineup give Los Angeles enough depth to make any free baserunner feel dangerous.
Shohei Ohtani’s status adds another layer to the night. The Dodgers were weighing their options after Ohtani showed visible discomfort during Wednesday’s loss, and he has not looked right at the plate lately. Whether he plays or not, the Cardinals cannot build a game plan around relief. Los Angeles still has too much talent for that.
Mathews has to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate. He has to avoid walks in front of the Dodgers’ power. He has to make Los Angeles earn traffic instead of handing it over. If he can get the Cardinals through five or six competitive innings, St. Louis will have a real chance to finish the sweep.
That would be a significant development after the way this road trip looked on paper.
The pitching matchup is not easy.
Skubal enters at 8-7 with a 2.84 ERA, and in his first month with the Dodgers, he posted a 3.00 ERA over five starts with 37 strikeouts in 30 innings. That is front-line stuff, and it is the kind of matchup that usually asks an offense to be patient, precise and ready when the one mistake comes.
The Cardinals cannot assume the power show from Tuesday or the late rally from Wednesday will simply carry over.
Skubal can miss bats. He can control the strike zone. He can make left-handed hitters uncomfortable and force right-handed bats to defend the whole plate. St. Louis has to avoid chasing early and letting him roll through low-stress innings.
The approach has to be stubborn.
Make him throw strikes.
Get runners on base ahead of Walker, Burleson, Herrera and Báez.
Force him to work from the stretch.
Do not waste scoring chances.
The Cardinals have done a much better job in this series getting production from more than one or two spots. Saggese has been the story of the series so far, with three home runs and the go-ahead swing Wednesday. Bernal has gone from September call-up to immediate contributor in two nights. Báez keeps reminding everyone how loud his power can be. Walker remains one RBI away from a 100-RBI season, a milestone that would place him in rare company among homegrown Cardinals outfielders.
Burleson already reached 100 RBIs, and he tied Wednesday’s game with a productive at-bat instead of a highlight swing.
That is what good offenses do.
They do not always need the three-run homer. Sometimes they need the fly ball. Sometimes they need the infield single. Sometimes they need the young catcher to run into one. Sometimes they need the rookie power bat to stay through the ball and drive a double into the gap.
The Cardinals have found enough of those moments through two games in Los Angeles.
They need one more night of it.
The Dodgers will not hand it to them. They have lost six of their last eight, but this is still a first-place club with October expectations. Teams like that do not enjoy being embarrassed at home. Skubal gives Los Angeles a real chance to stop the skid, and the Cardinals should expect the Dodgers to play with urgency.
That is fine.
St. Louis should be playing with urgency, too.
The Cardinals have spent too much of the season trying to climb back to even. They got there Wednesday. Now the challenge is to move past it. Beating the Dodgers twice got the Cardinals back to .500. Beating them a third time would give St. Louis a road sweep, a winning record again and a completely different feel heading into Colorado.
That does not erase what happened in Philadelphia.
It does not erase the Baltimore series.
It does not erase the injuries to Hunter Dobbins, Andre Pallante, Masyn Winn, Everson Pereira and others.
But it would change the conversation.
And right now, the Cardinals need that.
They need Mathews to give them a start.
They need the bullpen to have enough left after Wednesday.
They need the lineup to make Skubal work.
They need to take advantage if the Dodgers continue to leave openings.
Most of all, they need to finish what they started.
Two wins at Dodger Stadium is a good series.
Three would be a statement.
Game Info
Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
When: Thursday, September 3, 2026
First Pitch: 9:10 p.m. CT / 7:10 p.m. PT
Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
Probable Pitchers: LHP Quinn Mathews vs. LHP Tarik Skubal
Mathews: 1-2, 5.03 ERA
Skubal: 8-7, 2.84 ERA
Records: Cardinals 70-70; Dodgers 82-57
Broadcast: SportsNet LA / Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365
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Photo Credit: Quinn Mathews St. Louis Cardinals | MLB