Cardinals 8, Dodgers 6: Saggese's Walk-Off Single Stuns Los Angeles in the 10th

Yamamoto seven, Freeman homer, Ohtani four strikeouts

September 2, 2026 – Los Angeles – Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer in the first inning, his first since July 3, and the Dodgers led 3-0. Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out eight in seven innings. Shohei Ohtani struck out four consecutive times. A late-inning Cardinal comeback tied it in the eighth, Thomas Saggese singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-6 in a game that ended after midnight on the East Coast.

St. Louis has now won two straight at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has lost six of eight.

Freeman's 47-game drought ends loud

Freddie Freeman's last homer had come on July 3. The 47-game homerless stretch ended in the best possible way for Los Angeles — a 416-foot drive to center field in the first inning that scored Shohei Ohtani and Tommy Edman and put the Dodgers up 3-0 before the Cardinals had batted once.

It's hard to say the Dodgers should have been comfortable with that lead given what happened in Tuesday's 13-8 loss, but 3-0 after one off Yamamoto should be enough.

Yamamoto's seven were not enough either

Yoshinobu Yamamoto held St. Louis hitless through five innings. José Fermín broke it up with a single leading off the sixth, then Church grounded into a fielder's choice and Thomas Saggese homered to cut it to 3-2. In the seventh, Mookie Betts' two-run homer pushed Los Angeles back to 5-2.

Yamamoto struck out eight, walked none, and left after seven innings having allowed four runs. He did his job. The Cardinals just had more bullpen.

Leo Bernal, then the eighth

Leo Bernal hit his first major league homer in the seventh, a two-run shot that made it 5-4. Bernal had a two-run single in his MLB debut on Tuesday. Cardinals rookie hitting two in his second game is not a common sentence.

In the eighth, Joshua Báez doubled off Tanner Scott and scored on Alec Burleson's sacrifice fly to tie it 5-5. Los Angeles had the potential winning run on third in the ninth — Teoscar Hernández hit a ground-rule double and moved up on a wild pitch — but Kiké Hernández struck out and Will Smith flied out. Tied at five going to the 10th.

The 10th

Nathan Church singled to center to move the automatic runner to third. Thomas Saggese worked a 3-2 count against Brock Stewart, then slapped an infield single to second as José Fermín scored. Báez pinch-hit and doubled to right, scoring two more. Cardinals led 8-5.

Shohei Ohtani came up with a runner on third and nobody out in the bottom of the 10th. He'd struck out four times in a row, his first four-consecutive-strikeout game this season. He struck out again. Riley O'Brien closed it for his 35th save.

AthX Engine angle

AthX Engine credited Yoshinobu Yamamoto with 10 pitching FP for his seven-inning, eight-strikeout outing despite the no-decision. Freddie Freeman recorded 12 hitting FP on his three-run homer. Gordon Graceffo earned 11 pitching FP for three innings and six strikeouts out of St. Louis' bullpen. The Cardinals posted 13 team FP, good for 10th on the Wednesday slate. Worth noting: AthX Engine fantasy points measure individual game performance. They're separate from how share prices move on the marketplace.

St. Louis hosts Tarik Skubal in Thursday's series finale at Dodger Stadium.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*