LOS ANGELES — All Matt Holliday needed to do was make the catch, and the Cardinals would have tied the series.

Instead, his error gave Los Angeles a second chance, and St. Louis wound up on the brink of elimination.

Holliday dropped a sinking line drive with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, leading to a two-run rally by the Dodgers that gave them a 3-2 victory yesterday.

Ronnie Belliard and pinch-hitter Mark Loretta came through with RBI singles off closer Ryan Franklin, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NL playoff series. Game 3 is tomorrow in St. Louis.

The Cardinals got a second-inning homer from Holliday and a stellar performance from starter Adam Wainwright, who left with a 2-1 lead after eight innings. Still, St. Louis went home empty-handed after opening the series with two Cy Young Award candidates on the mound: Chris Carpenter and Wainwright.

"Right now we're feeling disappointed, upset," manager Tony La Russa said. "Right now, I think it's important to get upset. To turn the page too quickly, it means you don't care."

With the bases empty in the ninth and St. Louis on the verge of tying the series, Holliday charged in on James Loney's liner to left field. But the ball hit his midsection and dropped to the grass, allowing Loney to reach second.

Franklin walked Casey Blake before Belliard singled up the middle, scoring pinch-runner Juan Pierre. A passed ball moved runners up to second and third, and Franklin walked Russell Martin on four pitches to load the bases.

Loretta, batting for reliever George Sherrill, was 0 for 15 in his career against Franklin before fisting a soft single to center that drove in Blake. That triggered a huge celebration, with teammates jumping on Loretta in a pile between first and second base.

"Unfortunately, I did know the numbers," Loretta said. "This series is far from over. St. Louis is a very talented team. We're going to have to keep battling as hard as we can."