LOS ANGELES -- It wasn't exactly how he pictured it, but Ross Stripling finally earned his first major league victory in his seventh try in the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

In the battle of the former college roommates, it was Stripling (1-2) who had the edge against his former Texas A&M teammate Michael Wacha. Stripling gave up four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out two in five innings of work.

"I don't think me and Wacha will look back and think that this was the best game that we ever pitched, but it was a lot of fun."," Stripling said. "To get the first hit off of him was pretty funny but to get seven runs of support and be able to go to five (innings) and get a win was really nice. Got that under my belt now so hopefully we can pile on some more."

His old roommate is confident that this won't be the last.

"It's probably one of many more for that guy," Wacha said.

The Cardinals made four costly errors behind Wacha.

Despite shortstop Aledmys Diaz's big night at the plate (2-for-4, home run), he was responsible for three. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny defended Diaz, saying the 25-year-old Cuban rookie will make the tough plays sooner rather than later.

"There were some tough plays and they're plays that I know that he'll make," Matheny said. "Errors are going to happen and we've talked about that. He is getting better and he's making some nice plays. He made a nice play up the middle. He's continuing to get better and I don't just want to single him out."

The Cardinals are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the most errors in the league (29).

"I think historically, our teams over the last several years here have played very consistent defense," Matheny said. "We have different pieces coming in all of the time though. We've got guys learning and playing in this league and things are going to happen. Probably a whole lot more is made of it than what should."

Wacha (2-4) went four innings and gave up six runs -- two earned -- on eight hits.

The Cardinals strung together runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but five Los Angeles relievers combined to throw four scoreless innings. Kenley Jansen earned the save, his 12th of the season. The Dodgers' bullpen hasn't allowed an earned run (one unearned) in the last six games.

Yasiel Puig's towering home run to right field in the sixth inning gave the Dodgers an 8-4 lead. Puig went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored to snap a 3-for-24 slump.

Wacha struggled early, nearly giving up a home run to Howie Kendrick, the first batter he faced. Kendrick drove one dead center but Randal Grichuk climbed the wall to rob Kendrick.

Kendrick hasn't homered since Aug. 2, 2015, against his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, and was 1-for-9 coming into the game.

"He was in trouble right from the beginning," Matheny said. "He had some hard-hit balls, a nice play by Randal early on and also had some bloops. Just a little bit of everything kept coming at him."

The first three batters reached base in the second for Trayce Thompson, whose single to left field drove in Adrian Gonzalez and Puig. Stripling then singled to load the bases again and Kendrick delivered with a two-out single to right to make it 3-1.

Joc Pederson's RBI double scored Gonzalez in the third inning.

The Cardinals again ran into trouble in the fourth inning with poor defense behind Wacha.

The Dodgers put up two more runs to extend their lead to 6-2 thanks to errors by Diaz and Matt Carpenter.

"I know it was a frustrating night for (Wacha)," Matheny said. "But we definitely could have limited the damage by making some defensive plays behind him."

Diaz's third error led to the Dodgers seventh run in the fifth inning.

Carpenter scored in the first inning when Matt Adams grounded into a force out.

NOTES: Dodgers C A.J. Ellis returned to the lineup on Friday. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts cited his chemistry with RHP Ross Stripling. ... 2B Howie Kendrick returned to the lineup on Friday while Chase Utley had a day off. Utley is batting .333 in the last five games. ... 3B Justin Turner has hit safely in six of his last eight games. ... Stripling opposed his former college roommate and teammate at Texas A&M in RHP Michael Wacha. ... The Cardinals optioned RHP Seth Maness to Triple-A Memphis on Friday. The reliever had been struggling this season with an ERA of 6.39 in 13 appearances. LHP Dean Kiekhefer was called up to replace him in the bullpen.