The Dodgers walked into the rubber match having scored two runs or fewer in four straight, with Shohei Ohtani in the middle of his first four-game hitless run since 2022. They walked out with a 4-1 win, the kind of grind-it-out afternoon a team riding a skid actually needed.
Wrobleski was the story. The lefty went six scoreless, lowering an already absurd ERA and giving a banged-up rotation exactly the kind of length it's been begging for. On the other side, Dustin May made his first career start against the organization that drafted and developed him — and ran into a Dodgers offense finally willing to grind at-bats.
For St. Louis, the loss snaps a six-game run that had Oli Marmol's group looking like the most dangerous team in the NL Central. The Cardinals took the first two games of the series before running into a buzzsaw on Sunday — not the worst outcome for a club that came in expecting to get steamrolled by the defending champs.
The injury picture is still doing a lot of the heavy lifting in how this game played out. The Dodgers are operating without Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Blake Snell and most of their high-leverage bullpen, which is why a Wrobleski gem matters that much more. The Cardinals are still waiting on Lars Nootbaar, who's tracking toward a rehab assignment as soon as next week.
- 10-Day-ILTommy Edman 2B — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Edman has been backed off his rehab a bit after feeling residual soreness in his surgically repaired right ankle, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
- 10-Day-ILMookie Betts SS — Betts (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday.
- 15-Day-ILTyler Glasnow SP — no
- 15-Day-ILBlake Snell SP — Snell (shoulder) will be activated from the 15-day injured list Saturday to make his season debut for the Dodgers against Atlanta, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.
- 15-Day-ILBen Casparius RP — The Dodgers placed Casparius on the 15-day injured list Monday with right shoulder inflammation, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILEdwin Diaz RP — Diaz said Monday that he's feeling "really good" following right elbow surgery and expressed confidence that he will be back to full strength in the second half of the season, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
- 15-Day-ILBrusdar Graterol RP — Graterol (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, Triple-A Oklahoma City broadcaster Alex Freedman reports.
- 60-Day-ILLandon Knack SP — The Dodgers transferred Knack (chest) to the 60-day injured list Tuesday.
- Day-To-DaySem Robberse SP — Robberse (elbow) signed a minor-league contract with the Cardinals on Monday, which includes an invitation to spring training, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Day-To-DayVictor Santos RP — The Red Sox traded Santos (undisclosed) and Nick Robertson to the Cardinals on Friday in exchange for Tyler O'Neill (foot), Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.
- Day-To-DayIxan Henderson SP — Henderson (elbow) is starting the season on the 60-day injured list at Triple-A Memphis.
- Day-To-DayPacky Naughton RP — Imaging revealed damage to the UCL in Naughton's left elbow Saturday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
- Day-To-DayZack Thompson RP — The Cardinals reassigned Thompson (shoulder) to minor-league camp Monday.
- 10-Day-ILRamon Urias 3B — The Cardinals placed Urias on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with right elbow lateral epicondylitis.
- 15-Day-ILMatt Pushard RP — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday that Pushard (knee) will need "several more" rehab appearances at Triple-A Memphis before being activated from the 10-day injured list, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- 60-Day-ILLars Nootbaar LF — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday that Nootbaar (heels) is on track to begin a rehab assignment as soon as the week of May 10, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Freddie Freeman went 2-for-4 with an RBI, the line of a guy who quietly carries a team out of a slump while everyone else is checking the radar gun. Pinpointing one win as a turning point is usually a fool's errand in May, but the Dodgers will absolutely take it after a week of dead bats and bullpen stress.
St. Louis heads into the next series with the streak gone but plenty of evidence the early-season run wasn't a fluke. Los Angeles flies home with a starter who looks like he belongs at the front of any rotation, healthy or not.