Dodgers: Three Takeaways From the Series Win Over the Cubs

Kenley Jansen’s struggles resurface

Entering Saturday’s save situation against the Cubs, Kenley Jansen had been on a nice streak of dominant outings since that blown save in San Diego on May 5th.  Then came Saturday night’s game in which Kenley served up a game losing two-run home run to Anthony Rizzo.  After such a string of good outings, it was just a blip on the radar right?

Then came Sunday evening’s game and although he converted the save on a nice play by Alex Verdugo to end the game, the outing was anything but ordinary.  The Cubs had the go-ahead and winning run in scoring position with less than two outs.  To be fair it was also the third straight outing for Jansen, which is pushing it for any reliever and especially a closer who had just blown a save less than 24 hours prior.

While Jansen did earn the save, he did not make anyone feel better as that is now two shaky outings in a row.  There is no doubt that Kenley will be unavailable for Monday’s game, but when he gets on the mound again it will be worth monitoring.  The Dodgers are going to need Jansen to be dominant in the postseason if they want any chance of getting over their World Series hump.