Dodgers beat Cubs as Shohei Ohtani snaps home run…
As the defending two-time champions, the Dodgers don’t precisely need litmus exams.
Still, this weekend gave them a likelihood to measurement up one of their largest fellow National League contenders — and reaffirm their own standing as MLB’s foremost World Series risk once again.
After dropping a Friday night time sequence opener to the Cubs that ran Chicago’s win streak to 10 video games, the Dodgers bounced back the way in which title-winning groups are supposed to, cruising to back-to-back victories at Dodger Stadium to rally and take the three-game set.
Kyle Tucker went 1-for-3 and scored two runs Sunday against the Cubs. Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
The sequence was determined Sunday, in a 6-0 Dodgers win keyed by another pitching gem from Justin Wrobleski and another resurgent day from the membership’s relentless lineup.
Wrobleski spun six scoreless innings in his start, despite battling poor command, heavy visitors and a high pitch depend early.
The Dodgers (19-9) gave him a lot of assist by placing for three runs in the first (including two on a Miguel Rojas double), two more after Wrobleski left the mound in the sixth (which was keyed by a double from Andy Pages and RBI single from Dalton Rushing), then another in the seventh when Shohei Ohtani snapped his two-week home run drought with an insurance coverage blast to the alternative area.
Come October, these groups might wind up crossing paths again. Earlier this week, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts predicted the Cubs to “be in the mix” as his crew goes for a third straight championship.
“They can really defend,” he said. “And they can really hit.”
But for now, the Dodgers’ supremacy stays undisputed. Even the most popular crew in the majors couldn’t quickly knock them from their perch.
What it means
For starters, that there was once again a postgame toast in the Dodgers’ clubhouse to have fun a sequence win — their first since sweeping the Mets during their earlier homestand.
Before these last two video games, the Dodgers had misplaced 5 of seven, failing to win either sequence during their current highway journey to Denver and San Francisco. For the first time, there have been fears they could enter their first true skid of the season, particularly in the wake of Edwin Díaz’s injury.
Two days later, so a lot for all that.
The Dodgers are now one win behind the Braves for most in the majors. They are also 11-4 on their home area, having received 4 of the 5 sequence they’ve performed at Chavez Ravine this 12 months.
Shohei Ohtani, who went 3-for-3 including a home run, steals second base Sunday against the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
Who’s scorching
For the first time in a little while, Ohtani.
Entering Sunday, the two-way star was 1-for-his-last-15, had gone six video games without an extra-base hit and was mired in a two-week home run drought –– his longest since becoming a member of the Dodgers three years in the past.
Then, he turned in one of his best offensive video games of the season, going 3-for-3 with a stroll, a double and his solo home run in the seventh.
It will take more such performances for the four-time MVP to get back to his usually atmospheric requirements. Even after Sunday, he’s batting .262 with an .876 OPS.
However, once Ohtani finds his swing, it normally doesn’t take long for him to heat up. The last couple weeks, the Dodgers have been ready for it. Sunday, they are going to hope, is a signal that a lot more is soon to come.
Who’s not
Now that Ohtani has turned a nook, the Dodgers will depend on their other famous person sluggers to do the same.
So far, it hasn’t occurred for Freddie Freeman.
Freeman went 0-for-4 Sunday and is now 4-for-23 in his last six video games. The last 4 of those contests have been with Freeman batting second –– persevering with the Dodgers’ season-long manufacturing issues from that spot in the lineup (which was beforehand occupied by Kyle Tucker, who has three doubles in 4 video games since dropping down to the center of the order).
Up next
The Dodgers open a three-game set against the Marlins on Monday night time, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.48 ERA) dealing with Chris Paddack (0-4, 6.38 ERA). Ohtani will also start as a pitcher in the sequence on Tuesday — notable, because the Dodgers determined against pushing his outing back to Wednesday so he might pitch forward of Thursday’s off day.
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