In late May the St. Louis Cardinals took 2 of 3 from the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. In that series, Paco Rodriguez recorded the lone win in relief of recently released Dodger starter Ted Lilly. The two losses? Those were suffered by Chris Capuano and Clayton Kershaw, who allowed five and four earned runs respectively.

The most notable difference between that three-game home series loss and the upcoming four-game road series against the Cardinals is that it occurred before Yasiel Puig had been called up from Double-A Chattanooga and while Hanley Ramirez was on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring.

When the Dodgers take the field at Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon, Puig may or may not be in the line-up for what is being called a ‘wrist contusion’ suffered on a remarkable diving catch against the Cubs on Saturday afternoon and Hanley Ramirez definitely will not be in the line-up (and may land on the DL) for what is being called a ‘jammed shoulder’ suffered while tumbling into the stands after making a running catch in foul territory at the unfriendly confines of Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon. And though Capuano will not face the Cards during the four-game series in the shadow of the Gateway Arch, Kershaw will in game-2 of the four-game series.

Hanley Ramirez suffered what is being called a jammed shoulder during this dive into the stands at Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon. Ramirez will have an MRI on his shoulder on Monday morning. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

The loss of Ramirez for any significant period of time could prove devastating for the Dodgers during the stretch run. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Now granted, Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who will start game-1 of the series, are pitching far better than they were earlier in the season, and the Dodgers are currently the hottest team in all of baseball right now, but a huge part of that success is because of Puig and Ramirez both offensively and defensively, and the loss of either or both for the upcoming series against the Cards could have devastating results for the Dodgers – this in spite of their current 5.5-game lead over the second place Arizona Diamondbacks.

Although Yasiel Puig is far from 100%, he insists that he is ready to return to the Dodgers line-up right now. (Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports).

The bottom line is that with or without Puig and/or Ramirez in the line-up,  the Dodgers must switch gears from their successful four-game sweep over the lowly Cubs to a much more worthy opponent in the suddenly red hot Cardinals, who scored 31 runs in their recently concluded three-game series against their bitter division-rival Reds. Additionally, the absolutely brilliant Dodger bullpen must continue to shine if the Dodgers are to have hopes of taking this extremely tough series against the Cardinals.

It can be done.