St. Louis Cardinals claimed their first victory of the season after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 in a tense and which ended with a saved game by Mexican Giovanny Gallegos, his first of the season.
The Cardinals came from behind on the scoreboard. After being down 2-0 on a rainy day in Los Angeles, St. Louis staged a five-run rally, but was allowed to tie it in the ninth inning.
In extra innings, the Cardinals once again took the lead 6-5 and it was Mexican Gallegos’ turn with a 6-5 lead in the tenth inning.
With the ghost runner on second base, Gallegos began his work by striking out James Outman and striking out Jason Heyward.
Gavin Lux hit him and then Mookie Betts walked. The turn went to Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded and two outs.
With one hit, the Dodgers scored two and left the Cardinals, who had lost the first two games, on the field.
The right-hander worked closely with the Japanese. On a 2-1 count, he threw a fastball at 91.1 miles per hour. Ohtani swung a little late and it was a tame fly to shortstop and thus saved his first game.
Shohei Ohtani went 1 for 5, with one run scored, one walk and two strikeouts. The victory went to Ryan Helsley.
Dodgers and Cardinals will close the four-game series this Sunday. Gavin Stone will pitch for the Dodgers, while Steven Matz will pitch for St. Louis.
Mexicans as closers in the Major Leagues
Two Mexican relievers have already recorded their first saved game of the season. Andrés Muñoz did it with the Seattle Mariners and Gallegos with the Cardinals.
Both Muñoz and Gallegos were the only Mexican relievers with 10 or more saved in 2023.
This year they will have the opportunity to save 30 or more games, a figure that a Mexican has not achieved since the 2018 season, when Roberto Osuna made 38 saves with the Houston Astros.
Keep reading:
– Génesis Cabrera and José Caballero were involved in pushing and other things in a Major League match
– Andrés Muñoz, Mexican closer of the Seattle Mariners, begins his season with a perfect save