Dodgers win 15th in a row on road, 3-2 over Cards

[August 06, 2013]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Zack Greinke pitched into the seventh inning and raised his batting average to .405 with an RBI single, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers win their 15th straight on the road with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Nick Punto was productive subbing for injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez and the Dodgers got an RBI apiece from Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis while matching the Cincinnati Reds' 15-game run in 1957. They're two wins shy of the NL record set by the 1916 New York Giants.

Greinke (9-3) allowed two runs in 6 1-3 innings for his 100th career victory, allowing two hits in the third, fourth and fifth but no runs. Paco Rodriguez earned his second career save with a perfect ninth.

Adam Wainwright (13-7) gave up three runs in seven innings and failed in his third straight attempt at winning his 14th. He's tied for the league lead in wins with teammate Lance Lynn.

Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, stifled in the opener of a 10-game homestand after totaling 44 runs the previous four games. They've lost nine of 12 overall.

Punto doubled with two outs in the seventh ahead of Greinke's single that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. His relay to the plate preserved a one-run lead in the fifth and denied David Freese of an RBI double, and he made nice defensive plays to end the seventh and eighth.

Matt Carpenter doubled off the right-field wall and took third when Yasiel Puig fumbled the ball, then sprinted home on Beltran's groundout when Punto sailed a throw over catcher A.J. Ellis' head.

Running shoe-top catches by Puig in right field and Ethier in center helped Greinke strand three Cardinals in a scoreless third. St. Louis came up empty again in the fourth after opening with singles by Jon Jay and Tony Cruz, and Punto's relay in the fifth caught Allen Craig at the plate on Freese's double to right.

The first three Dodgers reached in the fourth, with Adrian Gonzalez stopping at third on Puig's double off the right-field wall and then scoring on Ethier's broken-bat single. Puig scored the go-ahead run when Ellis beat the relay on a potential double-play ball.

Wainwright had retired eight in a row before Punto doubled to the opposite-field in left with two outs in the seventh and Greinke lofted a single that made it 3-1.

NOTES: Major league ERA leader Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 1.87) faces Cardinals fifth starter Joe Kelly (2-3, 3.10) on Tuesday. Kershaw was the NL pitcher of the month in July going 4-1 with a 1.34 ERA, while Kelly has thrown 14 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings for the Cardinals in a bid to become more than just an occasional fifth starter. ... The Dodgers are 8-1 in Greinke's last nine starts.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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