Fly the W: Cubs win their first series in LA since 2014 |
LOS ANGELES - If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Los Angeles Dodgers (8-8) have been one of the best, if not the best team in the National League for the better part of the last decade. After ending a 10-game losing streak on Friday, the Chicago Cubs (8-6) had a chance at a rare series win at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.
Led by some timely hitting and great pitching across the first two games, it was going to be up to Drew Smyly to continue that, as he had a tall task ahead of him with Julio Urias on the mound. Smyly was far from perfect, but he did his job on the mound and gave the Cubs 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts. Throw in back-to-back homers from Patrick Wisdom and Cody Bellinger, and the Cubs did the unthinkable to take down the Dodgers 3-2 and claim the series. Patrick Wisdom - Chicago Cubs (6) pic.twitter.com/JUOFvmQofS
Cody Bellinger - Chicago Cubs (3) pic.twitter.com/WmjvpO03gf
When the series began, you had to like the Cubs chances to take one of the games, if not two, when you looked at the pitching matchups. Had it not been for a questionable decision from David Ross in the ninth on Saturday, the Cubs easily could have swept LA, which would have been enormous. The Cubs knew Sunday would be their toughest test yet as Urias was on the mound. Like Smyly, Urias was far from perfect, but still delivered a strong 5 2/3 inning start with six strikeouts. His biggest issue was the long ball, as two timely homers from the Cubs in the sixth proved to be the difference. You could tell this would be another low-scoring affair from the first pitch, as both starters were dialed in from the start. Both sides had minimal runners on base through two innings, but it was in the third when the Dodgers broke through first. Credit Chris Taylor for that, who continues to torment the Cubs with a long solo shot off of Smyly for the early 1-0 lead. Smyly continued to run into trouble in the third, with Mookie Betts pickup up a two-out double only to have Smyly pitch out of trouble. Dansby Swanson has had a series to forget in Los Angeles, but after leading off the fourth with a single, the Cubs hoped something would come from it. Unfortunately, Urias kept them quiet as he retired the next three hitters to keep the Dodgers in front. It took five innings for the Cubs offense to break through, but when they did, they had a nice spurt to it. The Dodgers aided in that by committing a fielding error that allowed Cody Bellinger to reach base. That proved crucial later in the inning as Bellinger swiped second for his third steal of the season. Bellinger eventually moved up to third base and then showed off the wheels to come home on the infield single from Luis Torrens to tie things up 1-1. Singles by Nico Hoerner and Swanson followed that up to load the bases, but the Cubs let Urias off the hook without further damage. With a brand new ball game following the tying run coming across, Smyly ran into some fifth-inning trouble and aided the Dodgers with a pair of walks. The good news, he kept them off the board and delivered his second straight strong start after a terrible first start. Now that the Cubs had the momentum back on their side, it was time for them to use the long ball to retake the lead for good. That started with a Patrick Wisdom two-out shot to make things 2-1 before Bellinger followed that up with one of his own to make things 3-1. Wisdom is one of the hotter hitters in baseball right now, as he homered in all three games of this series and has six homers on the season. A HR in every game of a series at Dodger Stadium as a visiting player: pic.twitter.com/X2F4wGoUos
Those would be the final hitters Urias would face as the Cubs chased him and got into the Dodgers pen. Like Urias, Smyly got into the sixth, but couldn't finish things off as Adbert Alzolay was called in from the pen. Alzolay closed out the sixth, but then ran into huge trouble in the seventh. That started with a Taylor walk and was followed by singles from Austin Barnes and Betts, with Betts making things 3-2 and had the Dodgers threatening for more. Mark Leiter Jr took over from there and loaded the bases after a JD Martinez single, but picked up two punchouts to keep the Cubs in front. Looking to rebound from his blown save on Saturday, Michael Fulmer took care of business in the eighth and sent the game to the ninth with the Cubs in front 3-2. The Cubs had a chance to add on against Evan Phillips as a Hoerner walk, and Ian Happ single had the offense in business, but Phillips made the pitches to keep things close. Faced with the same situation they faced on Saturday, Brad Boxberger took over in the ninth to try and lock things down. Despite allowing a two-out single to Betts, who had a huge game, Boxberger got nasty and struck out the side for his first save of the season and gave the Cubs a 3-2 series win. The @Cubs win their first series in LA since 2014! pic.twitter.com/JAoVquI9Fn The Cubs will continue their West Coast trip with three games at Oakland awaiting them Monday. Swanson responded from a horrendous first two games of the series to lead the Cubs offense with four hits. Hoerner and Wisdom added two hits as the Cubs offense pounded out 11 total hits. #Cubs Cody Bellinger after a homer in the series finale back in LA. pic.twitter.com/OOveW71fKB
