But returning for a second time will be “a little bit different” than last year’s emotional weekend, which saw Freeman break down during a press conference and repeatedly shed tears on the field as he received his 2021 World Series ring and multiple ovations from Braves fans at Truist Park.

“Last year there were a lot of things going on and obviously I was really looking forward to getting my World Series ring and stuff like that,” Freeman said over the weekend with the Dodgers heading back to Atlanta for a three-game series beginning Monday. “It’s a special place, a lot of special memories.

“I got through it. We all got through it. We had a good year.  I don’t think there’s going to be any crying this time around. Well, you never know. If something happens again, I can’t say that.”

At the tear-filled press conference before his first game as a visitor in Atlanta last year, Freeman was asked if he was “looking for closure” for that chapter of his life.

“There’s nothing to close for me here. Why would I close such a special time?” he said. “There’s nothing to close.”

By the time the three-game series was over and Freeman was on the Dodgers’ overnight flight to their next series in Colorado, he realized he was wrong.

“I wasn’t looking for closure. I definitely got it when I played those three games there,” he said now. “You never know what you need until you go through stuff. I think I just needed to go through the process of going there, playing there and leaving there.”

Freeman’s three-day emotional catharsis landed differently with some of his teammates. Clayton Kershaw was quoted by an Atlanta reporter, delivering an off-the-cuff comment that he hoped Freeman didn’t see the Dodgers’ organization as playing “second fiddle.”

The two talked about the remark. But even before that, Freeman sent a text in the team’s group chat thanking his teammates for “bearing with me” and apologizing for taking so long to get over the abrupt end to his 15 years in the Braves’ organization.

“Unless you’ve gone through it and done it … you’ve got to let the person go through it,” Freeman said. “When I said, ‘I’m sorry it took me three months.’ Andrew (Friedman) was, ‘Three months? I didn’t think it would happen that fast.’

“Every person’s different. There’s no playbook for anything. That’s how I felt. I did the best I could to come out here every day and play hard while I was going through that.”

Anticipation for this return to Atlanta has been building – in the Freeman family. His wife, Chelsea, and their three sons traveled to Atlanta while the Dodgers were playing in St. Louis. Freeman’s father (who missed last year’s visit) and “a lot of family” will also be in Atlanta.

The Freemans still have the house they had custom built in Atlanta and spent several weeks there during the offseason.  Now Freeman will be able to spend time with another loved one there.

“I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed,” he said. “I love that bed.”

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  Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits an RBI single against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Phil Bickford of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Oscar Mercado of the St. Louis Cardinals hits an RBI single against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Paul DeJong of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds third base after hitting a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Paul DeJong of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by teammates after hitting a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Paul DeJong of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after hitting an RBI single against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Oscar Mercado of the St. Louis Cardinals is caught stealing second base by Miguel Rojas of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Jason Heyward of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores a run against Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on May 21, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  St. Louis Cardinals’ Tommy Edman is tagged out by Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas dives for a grounder by St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers’ Jason Heyward (23) avoids the tag from St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, right, to score during the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong is congratulated by teammate Nolan Arenado after hitting a three-run home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, right, stands by during the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong watches his three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chris Taylor singles during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez hits a sacrifice fly to score Freddie Freeman during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers have counted on Clayton Kershaw for so many things over his 16-year career – not the least of which was to never follow a poor outing with another one.

Over the course of his first 407 major league starts, Kershaw had failed to pitch beyond the fourth inning in consecutive starts only once. In August 2008 (three months into his MLB career), he went four innings in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies then lasted just 2⅓ in a loss to the Washington Nationals five days later.

It has happened again.

Kershaw couldn’t get through the fourth inning Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, putting the Dodgers in an early hole on the way to a 10-5 defeat.

The loss was the Dodgers’ third in the four-game series, their first series loss since they dropped two out of three in Pittsburgh last month. The three-city road trip now continues with series against the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays – the teams with the best records in the National and American leagues.

Those tests come at a time when the Dodgers’ pitching appears to be leaking oil and running on fumes. They gave up 32 runs and nine home runs to the Cardinals, even with a two-hit shutout in Friday’s game, and will turn to prospects Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller for back-to-back starts in Atlanta.

In his previous start on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins, Kershaw was not sharp. He needed 90 pitches to get through four innings but did limit the damage, allowing just two runs despite seven hits and a walk.

“I just haven’t pitched very good,” he said. “It’s nothing specific. I just haven’t been pitching very well. Frustrating, not a great time with guys going down. Obviously, you’d like to get some length. It’s disappointing. You feel like you let the guys down, especially the bullpen. There’s really nothing to say except pitch better next time.”

There is more to say. Kershaw’s back-to-back short starts have followed his mother’s death. He will leave the Dodgers for a few days to attend a service for her and be placed on the bereavement list. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw is expected to rejoin the Dodgers in Tampa and make his next start on Saturday.

“I think he’s done as good a job as you can do of compartmentalizing and trying to keep it out of your mind,” Roberts said.

“There’s no one that works harder or prepares himself more. So he probably doesn’t want to admit it. But sometimes the emotional toll takes a toll on your body too. So I’m sure it plays some factor.”

Against the Cardinals, things began to get away from Kershaw in the third inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Nolan Arenado and a soft double to Tommy Edman, walked Brendan Donovan with two outs then gave up a two-run double to Oscar Mercado during a 33-pitch inning.

Kershaw retired the next six batters (three on strikeouts). But the second inning left a mark and Roberts pulled him in the fourth inning when Kerhaw ran into more two-out trouble with two walks wrapped around two singles including another two-out single by Mercado.

“I don’t really point to those at-bats (by Mercado). I point to the walks before with two outs. Those were the problems,” Kershaw said. “The stuff before that is what’s unacceptable – two-out walks, let an inning fester instead of being able to get three outs quickly.”

Roberts said Kershaw had mentioned “body fatigue” after his start against the Twins and there were signs of that again Sunday.

“We were hoping that was just a one-time deal, and you feel that he would come back and reset in this one,” Roberts said. “But it showed a lot of similarities to that last one, as far as fatigue.

“I know health-wise, he’s fine. But the fact of the matter is that the ball just wasn’t coming out like we’re used to, these last two. So we’ll see.”

Down 4-1, the Dodgers’ offense was in the position of having to make another comeback – and they weren’t really over the way their comeback attempt was cut short in the ninth inning Saturday night. Neither was the umpire at the center of that.

When Max Muncy was called out on strikes in the fourth inning, he objected to home plate umpire Nic Lentz’s strike zone. But Muncy gestured toward third base umpire Paul Emmel as he walked back to the dugout and was ejected.

“I think it was kind of a weekend-long frustration building up,” Muncy said. “For me, it wasn’t about the call. … To me, it was how the calls were happening. The pitch before was almost the exact same location. Whether it was a ball or a strike, I don’t care. He called it how he saw it. He called it a ball and for the catcher to sit there and tell him that’s a terrible call and he missed it and needs to be better and then the next one he gives it to him. That, to me, is where the frustration was coming from.

“I felt like that was happening all weekend long. I felt they were getting bullied and they gave in to it.”

Emmel was behind the plate Saturday night and made two bad strike calls in the ninth inning that effectively thwarted a Dodger comeback, leaving them with a one-run loss. He was the one who ejected Muncy, not Lentz.

“I wasn’t referencing last night. I was referencing the whole weekend,” Muncy said. “I was referring to all of them and he took it as I was talking about last night.

“When I went out there, before I had a chance to say anything, he (Emmel) said, ‘We’re not going to talk about last night.’ In a way, I was referring to last night but I was really referring to just the whole weekend and the fact that I felt they were giving calls that didn’t need to be called. That’s how it was.”

The Dodgers did make it a one-run game again – briefly – on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single and a bases-loaded balk in the fifth inning. But their beleaguered bullpen couldn’t hold the line. Justin Bruihl gave up a two-out, two-run single to Mercado in the bottom of the fifth, and Wander Suero served up a three-run home run to Paul DeJong in the seventh.

Heading into this season, the Dodgers expected their two top pitching prospects, Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller, to make their major league debuts at some point and impact the starting rotation to some degree. Injuries to Dustin May and Julio Urias in the past week – and Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove earlier this year – have determined that timetable.

Stone and Miller will start back-to-back games for the Dodgers in Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday. For Stone, it will be his second MLB start. Miller will make his MLB debut.

“It’s not what we expected. But that doesn’t really matter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of turning to the two prospects so early in the season. “So I think the only way to look at it is we’ve got to embrace this opportunity for these guys, and it’s up to all of us to make them comfortable and able to perform at a high level, because it shouldn’t be on … (them) to carry the brunt of it. It’s not.”

While May is expected to miss at least a month with his elbow injury, Urias will be eligible to return from the injured list on June 3. Roberts said his hamstring injury is not considered to be serious enough to sideline him beyond that.

Meanwhile, Michael Grove began a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. He is expected to make at least two starts before he would also become an option to join the Dodgers’ rotation.

That leaves a “floor of three starts” for Stone, Roberts said. He would not comment on Miller joining the rotation.

Inserted into the rotation so the Dodgers could skip Noah Syndergaard for a turn, Stone made his debut on May 3 and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings against the Phillies. Roberts said he expects Stone to be better the second time around.

“I think the unfamiliarity, the novelty of it – we’ve already done that,” Roberts said. “Also, I think he’s throwing the baseball better in general. The fastball command is better. The changeup is better. I just think that the second time around he’ll be a lot more comfortable than he was the first time.”

In two starts since returning to OKC, Stone has pitched well, allowing only three earned runs on seven hits while striking out 14 in 11 innings.

Miller had a late start to his season because of shoulder soreness. The Dodgers’ first-round draft pick in 2020 has made four starts and pitched just 14⅓ innings since joining OKC, with a 5.65 ERA. In his most recent start Wednesday, however, the hard-throwing right-hander went six innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six.

“The first thing is command,” Roberts said of Miller’s main challenge. “When you’ve got a big fastball, you can bully guys and overpower guys. And as you get higher up (in the organization), you can’t do that. Guys can spoil pitches. They can hit the fastball. So I think it’s two-part – it’s commanding the fastball and also being able to understand when and how to use his breaking stuff. Because skill-set-wise, there’s a lot of talent.”

In the Braves, Stone and Miller will be facing one of the better offenses in the majors (second to the Dodgers in the National League in runs scored and tied with the Dodgers for second in MLB in home runs going into Sunday’s games).

“I don’t want to parallel it to having kids, but you just never know when you’re really ready, right? Until you know,” Roberts said. “The skill set is there.

“There’s really no perfect landing spot. I just think when the situation presents itself, you’ve got to evaluate what are the options, internally or externally, and figure out what’s best.”

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Gavin Stone, 0-0, 9.00 ERA) at Braves (RHP Charlie Morton, 5-3, 2.85 ERA), Monday, 4:20 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

• 

  Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a sacrifice fly during the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  J.D. Martinez of the Los Angeles Dodgers gestures skyward as he crosses home plate after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Noah Syndergaard of the Los Angeles Dodgers delivers during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Alec Burleson of the St. Louis Cardinals gestures toward the dugout after hitting an RBI double during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  A detailed view of the special Armed Forces Day ball cap worn by Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals as he returns to the dugout after pitching during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers gestures toward the dugout after hitting a single during the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Nolan Gorman of the St. Louis Cardinals shouts as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Victor Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers waits for a new ball after giving up a three-run home run to Nolan Gorman of the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a double during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Nolan Gorman of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by teammates as he enters the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Paul Goldschmidt (C) congratulates Nolan Gorman of the St. Louis Cardinals at home plate after Gorman hit a three-run home run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Victor Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers delivers during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  David Peralta of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores a run on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith during the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough carries a variety of objects during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 20, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 20, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras (40) is congratulated by first base coach Stubby Clapp after hitting an RBI single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday, May 20, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals’ Tommy Edman, left, grounds out as Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) handles the throw during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 20, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers have had a lot to overcome this week – an eroding starting rotation, an overworked bullpen, a lineup featuring more sub-Mendoza Line batting averages than the National League leaders in runs scored should feature.

But there was one thing they couldn’t overcome Saturday night – Paul Emmel’s strike zone.

A pair of questionable strike calls by the home plate umpire – including the final pitch of the game to Mookie Betts – cut short a Dodgers’ comeback and left them saddled with a 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Nothing we can do about it. It’s over with now,” Betts said.

“He called it. Nothing you can do. He called it a strike. Can’t take it back.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t hesitate when asked about the game-ending call.

“He missed it,” Roberts said. “Everyone is trying to compete, all of us. And it’s unfortunate that missed call determined the finality of that game. It was a great at-bat. It’s unfortunate.”

With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Dodgers reliever Victor Gonzalez gave up a three-run home run to Nolan Gorman – Gorman’s third homer in this series.

The Dodgers had gone hitless since J.D. Martinez’s three-run home run in the sixth inning but started building a ninth-inning comeback with a leadoff double by Miguel Vargas, a single by David Peralta and an RBI double by Jason Heyward.

James Outman hit a soft liner to second base for one out and Will Smith went to the plate as a pinch-hitter. He worked the count to his advantage at 3-and-1 and took a pitch up and out of the strike zone. Emmel called it a strike.

“Looking back, it was a buffer zone pitch, which gives them a little latitude off the plate,” Roberts said. “But that certainly changed the inning too. But again, that’s just one of those things where, you just hate to see the game determined by someone who’s not wearing a player’s uniform.”

With the count full, Smith drove in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. That brought Betts up with the tying run on second base.

He fouled off a fastball and then a slider from Cardinals reliever Geovanny Gallegos who then tried to tempt Betts into a third swing with three pitches well out of the strike zone. With Freddie Freeman (2 for 3 on the night with a 10-game hitting streak) on deck, Betts didn’t offer and took a fourth consecutive pitch – a fastball clearly outside to everyone but Emmel. Betts hopped in the air in obvious frustration as he spun away from the plate and walked to the dugout.

“Just sucks. It sucks when a game ends like that,” Martinez said. “We did such a great job of coming back in that game against some really good pitching. Even Will’s 3-1 pitch – it’s tough when it happens.

“Mookie’s really good at not swinging at balls. Pretty much from the dugout, any time you see him take a pitch and get frustrated like that, you kind of know that he missed it. You go back and look at it – I don’t want to get myself in trouble.”

Betts was careful with his comments as well, saying “it’s all negative for me” if he argues the call.

“It was a good at-bat. There was nothing else I could have done,” Betts said. “At that point, it’s out of my hands and in his. It is what it is.”

Their comeback thwarted, the Dodgers were left to take the positives out of their third loss in the past five games – including what passes for a quality start by one of their starting pitchers these days.

Noah Syndergaard gave them five innings, allowing three runs in the first two innings but then retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced. They were the most encouraging signs from the right-hander in some time.

“The first two innings have been my Achilles heel my whole career. It’s just been paralysis by analysis, trying to feel certain things in my delivery as opposed to just focusing on executing pitches,” Syndergaard said. “But it was nice that I was able to bend a little bit and not break. … I felt like I finally found my groove those last three innings.”

Mindful of his limited workload over the past three weeks, Roberts pulled Syndergaard after five innings and 80 pitches.

The Dodgers still haven’t had a starter throw a pitch in a sixth inning since Julio Urias went seven innings against the San Diego Padres last Saturday. In seven games since then, Dodgers relievers have thrown 38 innings, their starters only 27.

Yency Almonte and Justin Bruihl followed Syndergaard with scoreless innings. But Gonzalez gave up a tie-breaking three-run home run in the eighth that proved decisive.

“We were there,” Roberts said of the comeback momentum in the ninth. “We stressed him. Mookie went from 0-2 to 3-2 and, in our opinion, won that pitch to get Freddie up to potentially have the winning run on first base. We had two leverage guys left to go. We felt good where we were at.”

Two days after he gave up four home runs in one inning, the Dodgers placed left-hander Julio Urias on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. Right-hander Wander Suero was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Urias joins Dustin May on the IL, leaving the Dodgers with just three healthy starting pitchers currently on their roster – Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard and Tony Gonsolin.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts send Urias went for a scan to determine the extent of the injury Saturday but it is not expected to be serious.

“It should be short, as far as after the 15 days he’ll be eligible to pitch, and he’ll pitch,” Roberts said. “But it’s one of those things, we can’t let that bleed into something worse.”

Roberts said Urias felt the pain in his hamstring during his start Thursday in St. Louis. The left-hander went a season-low three innings, allowing four home runs in the third and then leaving the game.

“Potentially, yeah,” Roberts said when asked if the injury affected Urias’ performance against the Cardinals. “I don’t know when it happened in the third inning. But start to finish he wasn’t really sharp. Clearly that third inning, it might have been a result of the hamstring.”

Top prospect Gavin Stone is expected to be promoted from Triple-A to fill May’s spot and start Monday in Atlanta. Urias’ next scheduled start is Tuesday and Roberts said he didn’t know what the Dodgers would do for a replacement.

“Our guys are talking about it, but I don’t know that answer,” Roberts said.

“We’re gonna find a way like we always do. But guys are gonna get opportunities, and that’s a good thing too.”

Right-hander Michael Grove was in St. Louis with the Dodgers on the taxi squad for the first two games of the four-game series. He left to join OKC on Sunday and begin a rehab assignment. Grove has been on the IL since his April 20 start when he suffered a groin injury and Roberts said he is not an option to start for the Dodgers until he builds up in game action.

Ryan Pepiot remains on the IL with an oblique injury suffered at the end of spring training. He is currently limited to flat-ground throwing and might not be ready to return until after the All-Star break, Roberts said earlier this week.

The Dodgers’ eroding rotation has put a strain on their bullpen. Over their past six games through Saturday, Dodgers relievers had pitched 33 innings while the starters had given them a total of only 22.

Urias lasted a season-low three innings and 68 pitches in Thursday’s loss to the Cardinals and gave up those four home runs. He has allowed multiple home runs in five of his past seven starts and is tied for the major-league lead with 14 home runs allowed this season.

One of the most anticipated potential free agents this winter, Urias has a 6.25 ERA over his past six starts.

COMING AND GOING

The Dodgers have reportedly signed former major league closer Ken Giles to a minor-league contract.

The 32-year-old Giles had 113 saves for the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies from 2015 through 2019. But he has pitched just eight innings in the big leagues since then, missing the entire 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

He returned to pitch for the Seattle Mariners last season but had shoulder and finger injuries that limited him to 4⅓ innings. The Mariners released him in August. The San Francisco Giants signed him but released him in September after a handful of minor-league appearances.

Giles worked with Driveline this offseason and recently staged a workout for interested teams.

Meanwhile, right-hander Dylan Covey has been claimed on waivers by the Phillies. Covey, 31, made one appearance for the Dodgers, pitching four innings in relief after Dustin May left his start Wednesday with an injury. Covey was designated for assignment the next day.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 6-3, 2.52 ERA) at Cardinals (RHP Jack Flaherty, 3-4, 5.24 ERA), Sunday, 11:15 a.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings for the second consecutive start, allowing just one hit and walking three, and hasn’t given up an earned run in his past 16 innings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado swings at a pitch during the first inning of a their game against the Dodgers on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz throws during the first inning of a their game against the Dodgers on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt handles a ground out by the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman during the first inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings for the second consecutive start, allowing just one hit and walking three, and hasn’t given up an earned run in his past 16 innings. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez celebrates after hitting a double during the third inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt, right, dives safely back to first ahead of the tag from Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman during the third inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas, left, is tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz during the fourth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin, front, catches a pop-up hit by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong to end the fourth inning as Chris Taylor watches on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz throws during the first inning of a their game against the Dodgers on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor hits an RBI double during the fifth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor rounds first on his way to an RBI double during the fifth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts scores past St. Louis Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner during the fifth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz pauses after giving up an RBI double to the Dodgers’ Chris Taylor during the fifth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Lars Nootbaar catches a fly ball hit by the Dodgers’ Trayce Thompson to end the top of the sixth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers center fielder James Outman catches a fly ball hit by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt at the wall during the sixth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers center fielder James Outman catches a fly ball hit by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt at the wall during the sixth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks celebrates after getting the Dodgers’ Max Muncy to ground out ending the top of the seventh inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Andre Pallante throws to the plate during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas turns a double play over the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman during the sixth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers relief pitcher Shelby Miller throws to the plate during the seventh inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers second baseman Miguel Vargas catches a pop-up during the seventh inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts hits a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dogers’ Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts runs he bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Will Smith hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas beats the St. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Mercado to second base for a force out during the eighth inning on Friday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers infielders Miguel Vargas, left, and Miguel Rojas celebrate after their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers outfielders David Peralta, left, James Outman, center, and Mookie Betts celebrate after their 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night in St Louis. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

ST. LOUIS — A pipe burst in the St. Louis Cardinals’ clubhouse on Thursday, leaving a mess to clean up.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have been plugging leaks all week.

But Friday night, the structural integrity of their pitching held together. Tony Gonsolin and four relievers combined on a two-hit shutout and Mookie Betts broke the game open with a three-run home run to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0.

“A win’s a win. It’s going to be like that sometimes,” Betts said of going from Thursday’s slugfest to a game that featured only one run in the first seven innings. “You’ve just got to weather the storm. It’s a long season and there are going to be many ups and downs and unconventional games and whatnot. Just gotta play.”

A night after they combined for a Busch Stadium III record nine home runs – seven by the Cardinals – the closest anyone came to leaving the yard in the first seven innings was Paul Goldschmidt.

Leading off the sixth inning against Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol, Goldschmidt drove a ball 401 feet to center field. James Outman ran it down, leaping and banging into the wall as he reached up and robbed Goldschmidt of a home run to protect the Dodgers’ 1-0 lead.

“I just read it hard off the bat,” Outman said. “I actually turned the wrong way to start. I spun and I think the biggest thing is I timed the jump better. Last night (on Nolan Gorman’s eighth-inning homer), I felt like I was there a little early and got stuck. I just wanted to make sure I jumped early enough to give myself space between the wall and myself.

“I was just thinking you’d better freaking catch this one.”

The play was a big moment in a 1-0 game that had seen the Dodgers squander multiple scoring opportunities. But Outman didn’t see it that way.

“I was assuming that we were going to score more runs,” he said.

Outman’s assumption might have been swayed by the 24 runs that were scored in Thursday’s 16-8 slugfest. Friday’s game was much tamer.

“It’s quite the tale of two different nights,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The only run through seven innings was set up when one of the best defensive players of his generation – Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado – made a throwing error.

That allowed Betts to reach base leading off the fifth inning. He was the Dodgers’ seventh baserunner in the game to that point. The previous six – including doubles by Freddie Freeman, Miguel Vargas and J.D. Martinez – had all been stranded with the Dodgers going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Betts tried to take matters into his own hands. He tagged up and advanced to second base on Freeman’s fly out then had third base stolen on a pitch Will Smith fouled off. A balk by Cardinals starter Steven Matz got Betts to third base before Martinez drew a walk.

That brought up Chris Taylor, who had just one hit in his previous 21 at-bats. But Matz left a 2-and-2 fastball up and out over the plate and Taylor lashed it into left field for an RBI double.

That was all the offensive support the Dodgers offered Gonsolin, who boldly went where no Dodgers’ starting pitcher had gone – since Gonsolin’s previous start when he went five innings against the Padres on Sunday.

In the four games since then, Dodgers starters had pitched a combined total of 12 innings, leaning heavily on an overworked bullpen.

“I wasn’t trying to think about that too much,” Gonsolin said. “I was not super happy with it. Just some of the length stuff. The first two, three innings felt really long. I threw a lot of pitches.”

He did.

A 30-pitch first inning doomed any hope of Gonsolin getting truly deep into the game. But he pitched five scoreless innings for the second consecutive start, allowing just one hit and walking three, and hasn’t given up an earned run in his past 16 innings.

“I didn’t think he was as sharp as he has been his last three outings,” Roberts said. “Fastball velocity was down. I don’t think the slider was as sharp. That split(-finger fastball) was good at times but up at times as well. I think he just did a good job of competing and using what he had tonight to limit runs.”

Graterol and Shelby Miller protected the 1-0 lead until the Dodgers’ offense broke through for four runs after there were two outs in the eighth.

Betts came into the game just 10 for 48 (.208) over his previous 13 games but that included three home runs in the series against the Padres. He jumped on a first-pitch slider from Chris Stratton in the eighth inning to put the game away.

“Mookie is Mookie,” Outman said. “He came through big.”

.@mookiebetts 3-run HR! pic.twitter.com/YYbOwgetFA

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) May 20, 2023

.@james_outman to the rescue! pic.twitter.com/qEihxmnFnS

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) May 20, 2023

So what is the explanation for Urias having given up 14 home runs this season (tied for the most in the majors), including multiple home runs in five of his past seven starts?

“I think most of those, if you go back and look, were right down the middle. Mistake pitches,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. “The majority of the time they were mistakes in execution. You go back and look, like Belli’s homer (Cody Bellinger of the Chicago Cubs), that was supposed to be away and it was right down the middle. Yesterday’s homers were right over the middle.

“I would say the majority of them have been middle-middle or the fat part of the plate. A well-executed pitch (that gets hit out), you tip your hat to.”

Over the first seven seasons of his major-league career, Urias gave up roughly one home run every nine innings pitched. That was up slightly last season (1.2 per nine innings) but has vaulted to 2.3 per nine innings in his first 10 starts this year.

“It’s obviously worrisome,” Urias said through an interpreter following Thursday’s game. “It’s one of those things where, I’m not hiding from it, I’ve got to do a better job.”

Better execution of his pitches is the primary part of that, Prior acknowledged. But Urias might also need to make some changes in his pitch sequencing as opposing teams’ “gameplan against him has shifted over the last couple years.”

“I think guys have gotten used to how he pitches a little bit. So it’s our responsibility to adapt to that and try to change that,” Prior said. “Getting away from maybe some tendencies that he’s got into. Obviously, he leans heavily on some of his off-speed stuff. I don’t think that changes. I think the buckets and usages are all the same but maybe switching it up in how we go about attacking in different situations over the course of the game.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the home run barrage by the Cardinals “piqued my interest” regarding the potential for pitches being tipped in some fashion and the Dodgers had to “do our due diligence” to make sure Urias wasn’t giving anything away. The conclusion is that Urias is just making more mistakes than the Dodgers are accustomed to seeing from him.

“I just think it’s been bad pitches,” Roberts said. “If you look at those pitches, there were some non-competitive pitches and the balls that they slugged, they were center cut.”

REWARD SYSTEM

Dodgers relievers had to pitch 26 innings in the four games before Friday. That workload has prompted roster moves to bring in fresher arms each of the last three days with a reliever who pitched multiple innings the night before was sent out – Justin Bruihl, Dylan Covey and Andre Jackson. Right-hander Tyler Cyr was promoted in Jackson’s place Friday.

“It’s tough. In one sense it’s understandable with the players that have options because that’s part of their value, the organization’s value to be able to use guys in that way,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “In Bruihl’s particular case, he was pitching really well. To have a conversation, knowing that you’re a major-league pitcher and to tell a professional ballplayer, ‘You did everything we asked and performed’ – and I’m all about meritocracy but not to be able to follow through with that, it sucks. It’s a tough conversation.”

ZIMMER RELEASED

Outfielder Bradley Zimmer was released by the Dodgers from Triple-A Oklahoma City this week and signed a minor-league contract with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent.

Zimmer, 30, spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues with the Cleveland Guardians, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers signed him to a minor-league deal this offseason and he hit .219 with a .665 OPS and three home runs in 31 games for OKC this year.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Noah Syndergaard, 1-3, 5.94 ERA) at Cardinals (RHP Miles Mikolas, 2-1, 4.91 ERA), Saturday, 4:15 p.m., FOX/Ch. 11, 570 AM

• 

  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Juan Yepez, left, rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias, right, during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts doubles during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts doubles during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez hits a two-run double during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright pauses on the mound after giving up a two-run double to the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez during the first inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, right, talks with catcher Willson Contreras during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Miguel Vargas, right, is tagged out at first base by St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt during the first inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas throws to first base but is not able to turn a double play after forcing out the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado at second as second baseman Miguel Vargas looks on during the second inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Mercado singles during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Mercado, right, is safe at second for a stolen base ahead of the tag from Dodgers second baseman Miguel Vargas during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras watches the flight of his three-run home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras tosses his bat as he watches the flight of his three-run home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras, left, rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias pauses on the mound after giving up a three-run home run to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Juan Yepez hits a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Juan Yepez hits a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Juan Yepez tosses his bat after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias walks to the mound with a new ball after giving up a solo home run to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Juan Yepez during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias walks to the top of the mound after giving up a solo home run to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman during the third inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong hits a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  Dodgers relief pitcher Phil Bickford throws to the plate during the fourth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado circles the bases after hitting a solo home run off of Dodgers relief pitcher Phil Bickford, left, during the fourth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera throws to the plate during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman watches the flight of his grand slam during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman watches the flight of his grand slam during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam off of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera, left, during the sixth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman gestures skyward as he rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam for his 300th career home run during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman circles the bases after hitting a grand slam during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, gets a hug from teammate Miguel Rojas after hitting a grand slam for his 300th career home run during the sixth inning of their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, gets a hug from teammate Miguel Rojas after hitting a grand slam during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, gets a hug from teammate Miguel Rojas after hitting a grand slam as teammate Trayce Thompson, left, watches during the sixth inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The Dodgers’ Max Muncy watches his solo home run as he begins to run the bases during the seventh inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera pauses at the back of the mound after giving up a solo home run to the Dodgers’ Max Muncy during the seventh inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The Dodgers’ Max Muncy, left, is congratulated by teammate David Peralta after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera sits in the dugout after being removed during the seventh inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Oscar Mercado catches a fly ball hit by the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez for an out during the seventh inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan scores during the eighth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan dives for home plate to score a run ahead of the throw to Dodgers catcher Will Smith during the eighth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, right, scores past Dodgers catcher Will Smith during the eighth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, left, scores past Dodgers catcher Will Smith during the eighth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras follows through on a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Willson Contreras celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  The St. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Mercado, left, scores on a wild pitch by Dodgers relief pitcher Yency Almonte, right, during the eighth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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  Dodgers outfielder James Outman is not able to catch a ball hit for a home run by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman during the eighth inning on Thursday night in St. Louis. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)

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  St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras celebrates the final out of their 16-8 victory over the Dodgers on Thursday night in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers raised glasses of champagne to Freddie Freeman on Thursday night. The pitching staff might feel a need for harder liquor these days.

The St. Louis Cardinals teed off on the Dodgers, hitting seven home runs including four in the third inning off Julio Urias and beating the Dodgers, 16-8, in the opener of a four-game series.

The Dodgers briefly made a game of it thanks to a historic home run of their own. Freddie Freeman became the 155th player in baseball history with 300 home runs, reaching the milestone in grand fashion – a bases-loaded drive over the wall in left-center field off Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera in the sixth inning.

Freeman is only the second of those 155 to reach 300 with a grand slam, joining Ruben Sierra who did it in 2004.

After the game – despite the ugly score – the Dodgers toasted Freeman’s achievement (as they did following Clayton Kershaw’s 200th career win earlier this season). Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Manager Dave Roberts and Jason Heyward (who was on the field as an Atlanta Brave for Freeman’s first big-league homer) offered remarks.

“I think I hit the wall three times since I had 299,” said Freeman, who did indeed triple off the wall in his previous at-bat. “You wish you’d do these things in wins. It’s still pretty cool. I don’t really like reminiscing on anything because we’ve got a game tomorrow and it doesn’t really matter. But 300 home runs is quite a bit of home runs. I’ll call my dad tonight and enjoy it then worry about tomorrow.”

Worrisome for the Dodgers, Urias is producing “quite a bit of home runs” as well.

Thursday was the fifth time in his past seven starts that Urias has allowed multiple home runs. The Cardinals’ saturation bombing moved him into a tie (with Kansas City Royals right-hander Jordan Lyles) for the major-league lead with 14 homers allowed this season.

“It was just a bad game. Not even just that inning, it was a bad game entirely,” Urias said through an interpreter.

“I missed and I missed badly and I paid the price for it.”

A two-run double by J.D. Martinez gave the Dodgers a first-inning lead but the Cardinals exploded in the third inning.

After a leadoff single by Oscar Mercado and a one-out walk of Paul Goldschmidt, Willson Contreras crushed a first-pitch changeup from Urias, sending it 434 feet out to center field for a three-run home run.

Nolan Arenado popped out for the second out of the inning but Juan Yepez, Nolan Gorman and Paul DeJong hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in a span of 12 pitches.

“Tonight the story was he just didn’t have command,” Roberts said. “There were a lot of pitches that were just middle-middle, breaking balls that didn’t get there, changeups that were in the strike zone that were up, working behind. Those guys are swinging the bats really well. When you run into a team like that (and) you’re behind, you’re making pitches over the plate, they’re going to make you pay and that’s what they did tonight.”

The four homers in the inning – 1,596 feet worth of long balls – came on three different pitches. Contreras and Yepez hit changeups, Gorman a slurve and DeJong a fastball. But they did indeed have one thing in common – they were all over the heart of the plate.

Nonetheless, the barrage left the Dodgers questioning whether Urias might have been tipping his pitches in some way.

“I hate to discount what they did. It just seemed like they were on everything,” Roberts said. “Obviously I know that hitting guy over there (former Dodgers hitting coach Turner Ward). It’s something he prides himself on.

“(Urias) didn’t make good pitches. They were on everything. But I think we’ve got to clean our kitchen … as well and look into that. But I don’t know definitively.”

Urias was pulled after that inning, a season-low in innings and pitches (68) that left the Dodgers’ bullpen to answer another early wakeup call. Dodgers starting pitchers have combined for only 12 innings over the past four days while the relievers have pitched 26.

Phil Bickford was first up and he gave up three more runs including two on a home run by Arenado that made it 9-3 in the fourth inning. Roberts took Betts out of the game.

“It was 9-3 and knowing where we’re at, the way they were swinging the bats … if we could kind of save some innings, some legs in this stretch I felt that was smart,” Roberts said.

An error by Paul Goldschmidt extended the sixth inning long enough for Trayce Thompson (in Betts’ spot) to load the bases with a walk, setting up Freeman’s grand slam. A leadoff home run by Max Muncy in the seventh made it a one-run game.

Fresh up from Triple-A, Andre Jackson held the Cardinals scoreless over three innings. But Roberts tried to squeeze another one out of him.

“Yeah, it was (a decision prompted by the state of the Dodgers’ bullpen),” Roberts said. “He was throwing the baseball well. He gave us everything he had. I tried to get him through that fourth inning. Playing from behind all night, I didn’t want to use any of the leverage guys and we had a few guys that were down as well.”

The Cardinals had another explosion in them. They put the game away with seven runs in the eighth off Jackson and Yency Almonte. Almonte gave up Contreras’ second three-run home run of the game and Gorman’s second homer of the night.

A @FreddieFreeman5 grand slam for home run No. 300 gets the @Dodgers right back in the game!

(MLB x @DairyQueen) pic.twitter.com/SUCzsKQhIz

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2023

Watch it fly, Max. pic.twitter.com/tfeM3FeaQN

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 19, 2023

Willson Contreras hits this one to dead center for the lead! pic.twitter.com/GeU84W9Nqy

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2023

The @Cardinals just went BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! pic.twitter.com/xb9gOyZ8Ra

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2023

Nolan Arenado just hit his SIXTH homer in his last seven games! pic.twitter.com/QM0hh54twS

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2023

Willson Contreras just hit ANOTHER three-run home run! pic.twitter.com/vuxgPOym2g

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2023

Dustin May is out of the Dodgers’ starting rotation for “at least a month and we’re probably looking beyond that,” Manager Dave Roberts said Thursday, a day after May was removed from his start after one inning with elbow pain.

The MRI that followed delivered a good news/bad news diagnosis. The good news was that May’s flexor tendon and ulnar collateral ligament (the one repaired during Tommy John surgery in May 2021) are intact. But the flexor pronator mass in his pitching elbow suffered a strain. May will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection to promote healing with the hope that he will be able to return to the rotation sometime near midseason.

In the meantime, the Dodgers have an opening in that rotation and Gavin Stone “makes the most sense” to fill it for now, Roberts said without confirming that Stone will start Monday in Atlanta when May’s spot comes around again.

The 24-year-old Stone made his major league debut earlier this month, allowing five runs on eight hits in four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. In two starts since returning to Triple-A Oklahoma City, he has been outstanding, allowing just three earned runs on seven hits while striking out 14 in 11 innings.

“I do think that the second go, if it is potentially Gavin, will be better,” Roberts said. “But Dustin is a big void.”

In the meantime, though, it was Michael Grove who showed up in St. Louis on Thursday. Grove is still on the IL with a groin injury suffered during his fourth start of the season on April 20. Grove has been at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, rehabilitating and pitched in an extended spring training camp game on Monday.

Grove threw a bullpen session Wednesday morning then headed to the airport. He will be on the taxi squad in St. Louis, Roberts said, and will only be activated if circumstances leave the Dodgers in need of an arm in the bullpen.

“I watched his first inning then I was on the plane so I couldn’t stream it,” Grove said of hearing about May’s injury. “Then I started getting texts, ‘What’s going on with D-May?’ I was, ‘What do you mean?’ I didn’t know until after (his flight).

“That certainly shakes stuff up.”

Indeed, it does – just as Tony Gonsolin’s spring ankle injury did at the start of the season.

Grove is not an option to rejoin the starting rotation at this point. And neither is Ryan Pepiot or Bobby Miller.

Miller’s season started late as the Dodgers handled him carefully following some shoulder soreness. He has a 5.65 ERA after 14⅓ innings in four starts at Triple-A.

Pepiot, meanwhile, has been limited to throwing on flat ground after experiencing renewed discomfort from the oblique injury that landed him on the IL to start the season. He is not likely to return until after the All-Star break, according to Roberts.

But the Dodgers are not inclined to look outside the organization for starting pitching help, a source said. The trade market is not much of an option until closer to the in-season deadline anyway – and by then the Dodgers could have May back with Grove and Pepiot as options.

“The thing we’ve done a really nice job of over the years is that when something like this unforeseen happens, we continue to move forward and guys step up,” Roberts said.

“I’m very excited about the arms we’ve got potentially coming. Maybe we didn’t expect to see them so soon. But we’ll see.”

WORKLOAD

As a result of a 12-inning game on Monday, an uncharacteristically short start by Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday and May’s early exit Wednesday, the Dodgers’ bullpen pitched 21 innings during the three-game series with the Minnesota Twins (compared to nine by the three starting pitchers). That workload left them short-handed and taxed heading into the four-game series in St. Louis.

“That’s one of those things – you don’t know until you know about a ballclub,” Roberts said. “When you’re up against it and there’s not a guy in the ’pen that said, ‘I’m down.’ (Bullpen coach) Josh Bard came to me and said, ‘All the guys want to take the baseball.’ Guys that were down were lacing their spikes up. Victor (Gonzalez) and Brusdar (Graterol) in that 12-inning game were ready.

“Everyone feels that. For me as a manager, once you get that assurance that they’re going to be fine physically then you feel more comfort with their desires. These guys have carried us through this stretch.”

To shore up that bullpen, the Dodgers recalled Andre Jackson and Justin Bruihl on Thursday. May went to the IL and right-hander Dylan Covey (who pitched four innings in relief of May on Wednesday in his first major league game since 2020) was designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin, 1-1, 1.42 ERA) at Cardinals (LHP Steven Matz, 0-4, 5.62 ERA), Friday, 5:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM

Editor’s note: This is the Thursday, May 18, 2023, edition of the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.

Good morning. The Dodgers’ pitching staff took a hit yesterday when Dustin May left the game after one inning with pain in his right elbow. They’ll survive, but maybe in a different way than we’re used to. Let’s look at that after a glance at a lot of other Southern California sports news.

Previewing Lakers-Nuggets: The Lakers are getting ready for Game 2 in Denver, with a start possible for Rui Hachimura after his success guarding Nikola Jokic late in the Nuggets’ Game 1 win. Columnist Jim Alexander called for the Lakers to make up for an “unacceptable” lack of urgency early in Tuesday’s game.

Previewing the Sparks’ season: Beat writer James Davis poses key questions for the team going into its opener Friday against Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and Phoenix. Columnist Mirjam Swanson looks at why the WNBA might struggle to capitalize on the popularity of women’s college basketball.

On the scoreboard: The Angels were stymied by an old friend in Baltimore, although a home run eased Mike Trout’s slump. LAFC lost a lead and drew with Kansas City, while the Galaxy’s road drought continued in Columbus. JSerra High (San Juan Capistrano) vs. Santa Margarita in the Division 1 baseball title game Friday in Long Beach highlights the schedule of CIF Southern Section baseball and softball finals.

Off the field: The Dodgers withdrew an invitation for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to receive an award at LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium on June 16. The invitation to the gay activist group, a self-described “order of queer and trans nuns,” drew criticism by some Catholic leaders and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and a Dodgers release on the reversal cited “the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening.” The team of Jackie Robinson didn’t use to give in to the strong feelings of people offended by inclusion.

Now, back on the field with the Dodgers, whose 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins was overshadowed by Dustin May’s injury.

May was diagnosed with an elbow strain and projected to miss at least a month of games, Manager Dave Roberts said. That’s doubly disappointing for May because he was in the middle of a successful return (4-1, 2.63 ERA) from Tommy John surgery. And it’s a pain for the Dodgers, who already face questions about Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 5.94 and dealing recently with a blister or cut on his index finger) and the possibility of Clayton Kershaw missing a start when he goes on the bereavement list following his mother’s death.

Together, Kershaw (6-3, 2.52), Julio Urias (5-3, 3.61) and Tony Gonsolin (1-1, 1.42) and May have gone 16-8 with a 2.81 ERA, while other starters are 1-4 with a 6.87 ERA, and the pitching staff overall ranks lower than usual at sixth to 10th in the major leagues in the important numbers.

Solutions? Well, Walker Buehler is talking about coming back sooner than expected from Tommy John surgery, but that would mean September, not now.

What will be interesting to watch is what this means for the four top pitching prospects in the Dodgers’ farm system at Oklahoma City.

When beat writer Bill Plunkett analyzed Dodgers pitching depth in March, he said: “The difference this year seems to be that what depth the Dodgers have is largely young and unproven. But those young arms – Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone – are dynamic.”

The month before, Plunkett wrote: “Three of them – Ryan Pepiot, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone – will almost certainly figure into the rotation at some point this season.”

He added: “Miller and Stone are among the top pitching prospects in baseball with dynamic pitch mixes but limited experience as pros (two seasons each).”

Grove went on the injured list (groin) on April 21 after making four starts while Gonsolin was getting ready to begin the season, and Pepiot went on the 60-day IL (oblique) on March 27.

So the Dodgers’ starter when May’s turn comes up again Monday in Atlanta could be Stone. It would be the second major-league start for the 24-year-old right-hander, who gave up five runs in five innings of a game the Dodgers wound up winning against Philadelphia on May 3.

Only Cleveland has as many pitchers ranked as high as the Dodgers have on MLB.com’s top prospects list.

As Bill Plunkett wrote in February, their futures on the mound at Dodger Stadium are likely to arrive this season.

In at least one case, that future is about to begin.

TODAY

• The Lakers try to avoid a 2-0 deficit against the Nuggets in Denver (5:40 p.m., ESPN).

• The Angels seek a split of four games in Baltimore as Tyler Anderson seeks his first winning decision since April (9:35 a.m., BSW).

• The Dodgers and Julio Urias open a tough, 10-game trip to St. Louis, Atlanta and Tampa (4:45 p.m., SNLA).

• UCLA’s baseball team is at Arizona State to begin the final series of a disappointing conference season (7 p.m., Pac12LA).

BETWEEN THE LINES

With the top five pre-playoff favorites knocked out, Stanley Cup futures betting is wide open going into the NHL conference finals. Carolina is the +200 favorite to win it all, and Florida is +350 going into those teams’ Eastern Conference series opener tonight. Vegas is +240 and Dallas is +300 before their Western Conference series opener Friday.

280 CHARACTERS

“Clayton Kershaw getting more done before 9 a.m. than you will all day.” — Baseball writer Doug Padilla tweeting a photo of the pitcher working out in the outfield before the afternoon game between the Dodgers and Twins on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

1,000 WORDS

High Rider: Roosevelt High (Los Angeles) shortstop Omar Robles reaches for a throw as Narbonne (Harbor City) runner Sergio Padilla slides safely into second base during Narbonne’s 7-6 victory in an L.A. City Section Open Division first-round playoff game on Wednesday. The photo is by SCNG contributor Robert Casillas.

YOUR TURN

Thanks for reading. Send suggestions, comments and questions by email at kmodesti@scng.com and via Twitter @KevinModesti.

Editor’s note: Thanks for reading the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.