Dodgers 2 Cubs 7 : Barely a Trayce of Offense

The Dodgers fall to the Cubs in the series finale. All thanks to the Cubs offense coming out of hibernation and making up for it.

The Dodgers in this series did a great job of keeping the Cubs offense quiet, that is until today. As Alex mentioned in his preview, the Cubs had only scored four runs before today’s game in this series. They have scored four runs or more in 34 of the last 51 games they have played this season. So, it is safe to say that not only do the Cubs have the best record in baseball, they usually do it by scoring a lot of runs. You had to figure the Dodgers shutting them down as only going to last so long, before they would come out of their hibernation and the bats would wake up again. That all happened this afternoon.

Julio Urias really did not do too bad. He was hitting his spots and throwing good pitches. He went five innings, four strike outs, one walk and five earned runs. Sure, that does not sound like a good line at all, but I think it is important to remember the team Urias was asked to face. The Cubs are establishing themselves as one of the best in baseball right now. Urias’ first two starts in the majors have been again the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs, I consider that being thrown in the deep end. It does not get much harder than facing those two teams. So, before everyone freaks out about his start today, think back and realize he is only 19 and has faced two of the best teams in baseball.

The Cubs scored their first two runs on a walk and a couple of base hits in the bottom of the second. Javier Baez would hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Baez not only did it with the bat, but made a few great defensive plays that went against the Dodgers. The Cubs would score the rest of their runs on homers from Jason Heyward, Kris Bryant (who went back to back with Heyward) and Anthony Rizzo.

In the top of the fifth inning, Trayce Thompson got the Dodgers on the board with a solo shot to left center. The boys in blue would score again in the top of the sixth inning when Corey Seager hit a sacrifice fly that would score Enrique Hernandez. Unfortunately, the offense stopped there.

The Dodgers hit into three double plays today, which only shut down their offense even faster. Their bats are still struggling, but in this series you have to give credit where credit is due, the Cubs starting pitching was great. I think these losses were just a matter of not being able to bounce back from the great pitching the Cubs sent to the mound.

Dodgers are heading home for a three game series with the Braves and then another three game series with the Rockies. The Dodgers should be able to pick up a few W’s against the Braves especially with Kenta Maeda on the mound for Friday’s game and Clayton Kershaw on Saturday.

First pitch against the Braves is scheduled for 7:10 PM tomorrow.