Redbirds Win 2 of 3 from the Dodgers

May 9, 1978
Rasmussen vs Rau
St. Louis 8 Los Angeles 4
Dodger starter, Doug Rau, probably wished he pitched on another day as he caught the Cardinals when their bats were smoking. St. Louis scored 3 in the first on an error, hit batsman and consecutive singles by Jerry Morales, Ken Reitz and Tony Scott. It looked like it was going to be a long day for Eric Rasmussen as well when the Dodgers put together a walk and 4 singles to take a 4-3 lead after the first inning but Rau's troubles continued in the 2nd when Cardinal catcher, Ted Simmons, unloaded a 404 foot bomb to dead center field to plate 3 runs and give the visitors a 6-4 lead they would not relinquish. The Dodger manager was working on a short bullpen so allowed Rau to pitch the top of the 3rd inning but that decision proved a bad one when Tony Scott lead off with a 387 round tripper of his own to increase the lead to 7-4 before they added one more for good measure in the 9th for the 8-4 victory.

May 10, 1978
Denny vs Rhoden
St. Louis 2  Los Angeles 0
John Denny was in mid-season form as he completely mastered the Dodger lineup and tossed a 2 hit complete game shutout. Denny, who allowed 2 walks while striking out 7 faced a total of 29 batters as his defense supported him by turning 3 double plays. Rick Rhoden did not pitch badly giving up only 1 run until the 9th inning. The Cardinals got all they would need when they scored in the 4th inning thanks to SS Gary Templeton who singled with 1 out and then stole 2nd and 3rd where he scored from one out later on a Ted Simmons single to right field. That was all the run scoring until the 9th when Simmons again drove in his second run with a one out double and Denny closed the deal out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

May 11, 1978
Forsch vs Hooten
Los Angeles 6  St. Louis 3

Trying to avoid a sweep at home the Dodgers send Burt Hooten to the mound against the Cardinals Bob Forsch. After the Cardinals go out in order in the first the Dodgers get only their second lead of the series on the strength of Steve Garvey's long 3 run HR that traveled 392 feet to left center field. Los Angeles increased their lead to 4-0 in the 5th when Leon Lacy drilled a solo shot to the same spot as Garvey's HR. The Cardinals finally got on the board in the 7th when Ted Simmons, who had an outstanding series (5-13, 2HR, 6 RBI) hit his 2nd HR of the series to make it 4-1. LA added 2 in the bottom of the 7th inning on a 2 run single by Davey Lopes and St. Louis closed out the scoring in the 9th inning scoring 2 runs on 4 singles. The Dodgers avoid the sweep with a 6-3 win as Burt Hooten remains perfect on the young season and improved his record to 5-0