ST. LOUIS -- First, the no-hitter was off the table for Michael Wacha. Then, the lead.
The St. Louis Cardinals pitcher knows all too well how fleeting success can be.
"It can happen quickly, for sure," Wacha said after getting knocked out in the sixth inning of a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night to end a five-game winning streak.
"Right out of the gate I felt really strong, really good with all my pitches," Wacha said. "That one inning got away from me."
Yasmani Grandal's three-run homer capped a four-run sixth inning off Wacha (7-1), who gave up four runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He had entered tied for the league lead in victories and among the best with a 1.87 ERA.
"He had great stuff all night long," manager Mike Matheny said. "Just some deep counts ran up his pitch count really high."
Carlos Frias (4-2) allowed an unearned run and five hits in seven innings, an impressive bounce back after surrendering a career-worst 10 runs his last time out. Frias bunted for his first career hit in the seventh.
Howie Kendrick's RBI single tied it at 1-1 two at-bats before Grandal, activated from the 7-day concussion disabled list earlier Saturday, hammered a 3-1 pitch an estimated 435 feet to left-center.
The Dodgers, held hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings, ended a drought of 42 consecutive scoreless innings on the road, including a 3-0 loss in the series opener Friday.
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The game was delayed two hours, 20 minutes before the first pitch, and precipitation resumed pretty much non-stop in the bottom of the first to scatter a sellout crowd of 44,754 before Grandal's drive estimated at 435 feet to left center put the Dodgers up 4-1.
Wacha didn't think the delay was a factor in his sixth-inning woes, even though he got prepared twice. He pitched a lot in that type of situation last season.
"Nothing new for him," Matheny said. "I'll bet he did it a dozen times last year."
After the game was tied, he wanted to let Wacha work out of trouble, saying he was the Cardinals "best option right there."
"I felt like I was in control for a lot of that inning," he said. "I just got behind Grandal and he put a good swing on a heater and hit it out of here.
"I still felt strong out there."
Jhonny Peralta had a run-scoring groundout in the first but also grounded into two of the Cardinals' three double plays and struck out.
Wacha was the NL championship series MVP as a rookie in 2013, twice besting the Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw. This was his first regular-season game against them.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Manager Don Mattingly says OF Yasiel Puig (hamstring) may start a rehab assignment soon.
Cardinals: Matt Holliday was back in the lineup a day after being sent home with flu-like symptoms. He extended his franchise-record streak to 44 consecutive games reaching safely to start the season with a walk in the fourth, then was taken out feeling ill.
UP NEXT
Carlos Martinez (4-2, 3.54) hasn't allowed a run in 13 1/3 innings, a season-long scoreless streak for St. Louis. Brett Anderson (2-2, 3.47) worked a season-high seven innings his last time out and is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA in May.
REMEMBERING TAVERAS
