LOS ANGELES -- The bullpen slump that appeared to be triggered by Kenley Jansen's absence now has Jansen in its clutches.
For his second consecutive appearance since coming off the disabled list, Jansen was beaten by Cardinals hitting homers, this time Paul DeJong slugging a two-run shot in the ninth inning on Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss that dropped the Dodgers to 4 1/2 games out of first place, their largest deficit since May 29.
Jansen (0-5), who became a father again earlier in the day, was coming off a Monday night loss when he allowed back-to-back homers by Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter after entering a tied game, his first appearance since an irregular heartbeat landed him on the DL.