Happy Homecoming: Busch, Bellinger power Cubs over Dodgers |
LOS ANGELES - Find a way to win a baseball game.
That is the Chicago Cubs (74-70) mindset right now, as every day is a must-win, and we must see what happens in that type of game. Still sitting at five games out of the final wild-card spot, the Playoffs will be a challenge, but the more games they win, the longer they can stay in the race, which is all you can ask for. Anytime you begin your MLB career with one organization, only to be released or traded to another team, there is always a sense of payback on your mind as you want to go out and prove to your former team that they made the wrong decision. The Cubs had two of those guys last night as former Los Angeles Dodgers (86-58) Cody Bellinger and Michael Busch returned to Dodger Stadium, where both of their MLB careers began. Apparently, that is all they needed to get back on track. The duo combined for six hits and six RBIs in the Cubs' 10-4 win, with Busch picking up his second career four-hit game along with three RBIs. As good as the Dodgers have been this season, their starting pitching has been an issue, as they have gone through 17 different starters this year. That just goes to show you the overall depth in the organization. With Walker Buehler on the mound to open this series, the Dodgers were hoping he could put together a good start to gain some confidence heading into the postseason. One of the best pitchers in the game three seasons ago, Buehler has dealt with injuries the past few seasons, including Tommy John last year. Since returning from that surgery, Buehler hasn't been himself, as he is currently sitting at 1-5 on the season and has an ERA approaching 6.00. This was a game the Cubs had to have if they wanted to potentially steal this series from the Dodgers, and they wasted no time jumping him in the first inning. After a Dansby Swanson fielder's choice erased an Ian Happ single, it was the former Dodgers coming through as Bellinger unloaded on the first pitch he saw from Buehler and launched it way up into the right field bleachers for a 2-0 Cubs lead. Cody Bellinger - Chicago Cubs (16) Isaac Paredes followed that up with a double to left before coming home on the first of four Busch singles to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Michael Busch joins in! 3-0! pic.twitter.com/BCuh67fU0e Anytime you can get a big lead like that on the Dodgers, you must capitalize, especially with Kyle Hendricks on the mound. The former Ace of the Cubs is going through the worst season of his career, but something about the Dodgers brings out the best in him. You saw that in the first two-plus innings when he retired eight of the first nine batters he faced, but with two outs in the bottom of the third, the Dodgers were threatening. As expected, the three-headed monster of Shohei Otani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman kept the pressure on as Hendricks walked all three of them to load the bases, only to have Max Muncy line out to escape trouble. Having those three reach base was a theme all night as they reached base 10 times on the evening, but were still held to just four runs. That won't happen again if they get on base that much, so give the Cubs some credit for battling through that. Escaping that inning kept the momentum on the Cubs side, but having Busch take Buehler deep in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-0 had the Cubs in a great position to chase him from the game. Michael Busch goes oppo! 4-0 Cubbies! pic.twitter.com/VoDVPuEJF1 Like the third inning when the Dodgers were threatening for the first time, it was that trio again keeping the pressure on as Hendricks would not give in. At this point in his career, Hendricks very seldom will ever face a lineup three times, so to try it against the Dodgers is suicidal. As if a one-out Chris Taylor single wasn't bad enough, try having Otani and Betts answer with two more singles as the Dodgers were on the board 4-1. That set the stage for Freeman, who worked a second consecutive walk, and just like that, the bases were loaded with the go-ahead run at the plate. Knowing how quickly this offense can strike, Craig Counsell made the move to his pen, where Keegan Thompson entered the game and proceeded to allow a sacrifice fly to Muncy before escaping a tough situation with the Cubs in front 4-2. The Cubs' big inning came in the sixth, and once again, the former Dodgers played a role in that. Bellinger led things off with a walk before advancing to third on a Paredes single. Like the Hendricks move in the fifth, Dave Roberts knew he had to keep things close and pulled Buehler in favor of Anthony Banda to try and stop the bleeding. Banda was greeted by a sharply hit Busch single to bring home another run as the Cubs were in front 5-2 and still threatening. Insurance! pic.twitter.com/lQosjDDLCd That hit would go down as the winning hit, but the Miguel Amaya single later in the inning broke the game open as two more runs came in to score to push the Cubs lead to 7-2. With both starters out of the game at this point, this would come down to the bullpens, which has been a strength for both teams for the past few months. Thompson did his job by tossing 1 2/3 scoreless frames, but in the seventh, Drew Smyly ran into trouble and had the Dodgers thinking about a late-game rally. Forced to go through the top of the order, Smyly allowed a lead-off single to Otani before Betts crushed one over the left field fence to make this a 7-4 game. Freedman answered that with his third walk of the game as the Dodgers were starting to gain the momentum. Not willing to let Smyly go any further, Shawn Anderson was summoned from the pen, and despite a Tommy Edman single and several well-struck balls, he managed to keep the Dodgers from adding on as the Cubs maintained a three-run lead. Those were the final runs of the game for the Dodgers as the Cubs added a sacrifice fly from Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth to make things 8-4 before watching Seiya Suzuki deliver a single in the ninth before scoring on a Paredes sacrifice fly to close out an impressive 10-4 win. The Cubs pounded out 16 hits in the victory, as everyone in the lineup had at least one hit. Busch led the way with four hits and three RBIs, with Hoerner, Crow-Armstrong, Bellinger, and Paredes all adding two. The Cubs will look to claim the series on Tuesday as rookie left-hander Shota Imanaga will take on his rookie countryman Yoshinbu Yamamoto. Late-night dub! #Cubs Cody Bellinger back at Dodger Stadium & he homers against his friend pic.twitter.com/7QKCMTYjrf “He’s been a cornerstone for us. We’ve been playing really good team defense the last couple months and he’s really been behind that.”
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Busch: 4-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R
Bellinger: 2-for-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Amaya: 2 RBI pic.twitter.com/jK3ipyEi6M
Kyle Hendricks tips his cap to Michael Busch 👏 pic.twitter.com/aSJNFpqGMJ
