ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Chan Ho Park followed a terrible outing with a dominant performance.

Park (4-3) had a career-high 12 strikeouts and allowed three hits in eight innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Park's last start was his shortest in almost two seasons as he allowed eight runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings at Arizona.

"I had to forget about everything in the past," Park said. "Negative things never help, so I was thinking positive."

This time, he struck out Ray Lankford, Mike Matheny and Jim Edmonds three times each.

"At the end, they didn't know what to look for up there," manager Davey Johnson said. "I had chills two or three different times during the ballgame. It was that special."

Park walked three and also avoided injury when he did a split while striking out Lankford in the seventh.

Mark Grudzielanek hit a two-run double to snap a ninth-inning tie for the Dodgers.

Dave Veres (0-1) walked Chad Kreuter to start the ninth, and Kreuter advanced on a sacrifice and went to third on an infield hit by pinch-hitter Dave Hansen. With two outs, Grudzielanek lined a 2-2 pitch for a double into the left-field corner.

"That was probably the worst split-finger I threw him," Veres said. "I threw a couple good ones he swung at."

Both runners scored as Lankford's throw struck a young fan in the stands just outside fair territory for an error.

"My back leg slipped," Lankford said. "There was nothing I could do about it."

Jeff Shaw got the last three outs for his eighth save in 12 chances. The Cardinals, who have lost five of six, have totaled five hits the first two games of the three-game series.

"Some days we're going to have to go out there and win with one or two runs," Lankford said. "If we're the type of team we say we are, that's what we've got to do."

The Dodgers loaded the bases against reliever Mike Mohler with nobody out in the eighth on a hit batsman, a single by Grudzielanek and a walk to Shawn Green. Veres held them to a run on a one-out sacrifice fly by Eric Karros that tied it at 1.

Cardinals starter Rick Ankiel had nine strikeouts and allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.72. He walked four, two each in the second and third, and worked out of bases-loaded jams in both innings.

"I think today was what you come to see," Ankiel said. "You got your money's worth."

Jose Vizcaino grounded into an inning-ending double play in the second and Karros lined out to left to end the third against Ankiel, 20.

Fernando Vina's leadoff home run leading off the bottom of the first was his first to leave the park -- and barely, at that. First base umpire Bruce Froemming never hesitated signaling a home run on a ball that appeared to bang off a concrete pillar just beyond the right-field fence.

Replays shown later appeared to show the ball first made contact at the top of the yellow line above the wall, which is in play. But Johnson didn't complain.

Game notes
Park had 11 strikeouts twice, the last time on July 24, 1998 against the Diamondbacks. His previous strikeout high this season was five. ... Injured Cardinals pitchers Matt Morris and Mark Thompson both made rehab appearances for Triple-A Memphis on Friday night. Morris (elbow) started and took the loss, allowing five hits and three runs in four innings, and Thompson (groin) allowed one hit in three innings with four strikeouts. ... The game drew a sellout crowd of 48,372, the largest of the season at Busch Stadium. ... Ankiel has 38 strikeouts and 33 walks in 43 innings.