Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers started their first road trip of the season with a loss in a wild game in wild conditions at Wrigley Field. Things started out promising, but the Dodgers found themselves fighting uphill from there as they eventually fell 9-7 to the Cubs in dramatic fashion.
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In windy conditions, the Dodgers jumped out to a lead against Kyle Hendricks, as a Shohei Ohtani double, Freddie Freeman walk, and a Will Smith sun single into left loaded the bases. Eventually that was cashed in with a Teoscar Hernandez single that put the Dodgers in front 2-0.
Start it off, Teoscar! pic.twitter.com/EtHyDpiWTs
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 5, 2024
Coming off one of the best starts of his career, Bobby Miller looked excellent early, striking out the side in dominating fashion.
Bobby works fast. pic.twitter.com/CAbpLnUqUg
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 5, 2024
However, after getting one out in the 2nd, he gave up a homer to Dansby Swanson and then his control seemed to unravel.
A walk and a single setup a scoring chance, and Nick Madrigal followed with another single to plate a run. Another out had him on the verge of escape, but Miller issued another walk to load the bases, uncorked a wild pitch to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead, and then gave up a Seiya Suzuki double to drive in two more and knock him out of the game at 5-2.
Dinelson Lamet entered and issued an international walk before promptly getting the final out. He continued in the 3rd, giving up a Michael Busch homer to push the lead to 6-2. Alex Vesia relieved him in the 4th and faced the minimum over the next two innings thanks to a double play and a caught stealing erasing walks.
Michael Busch says baseball be gone!
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 5, 2024
First HR as a Cub ? pic.twitter.com/LyRWUBXU9D
For the Dodgers, after a quiet 3rd they wasted a scoring chance with second and third and one out in the 4th, though partially due to a great diving stop that saved at least one run.
But the top of the order jumped on Hendricks in the 5th, as a Mookie Betts single was followed by Ohtani’s second homer of the year. Then a Freeman walk gave way to a Smith double, and all of a sudden it was just 6-5 to the Cubs.
Shohei in the Windy City! pic.twitter.com/FnkVAunDOQ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 5, 2024
Unfortunately, Michael Grove gave that right back in the 6th. A walk and single led to a scoring chance, and an Ian Happ triple on a ball Teoscar misplayed led to a pair of runs, and Suzuki hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-5. While Grove bounced back to put up scoreless frames in the 7th and 8th, the damage was done.
Happy hunting (for RBIs) @ihapp_1 pic.twitter.com/l57RNlKON8
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 5, 2024
Still, the offense continued to battle, and a Freeman walk, a Smith single, and a wild pitch put a pair into scoring position in the 7th. That was taken advantage of by Teoscar, who singled to make it 9-7.
So the game went right down to the wire, as the Dodgers continued to fight, getting runners on second and third in the 9th and needing just a single to tie. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough in the end as James Outman was robbed to end the game.
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7-3 on the year, they are doomed!
Same two teams, same location, but thankfully a bit later at 10:05 AM HT/1:05 PM PT/4:05 PM ET. It’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Jordan Wicks, which should be an advantage, but today was supposed to be as well.
