For the first time in 16 years, the Dodgers have won back to back games. I mean 16 days. Clayton Kershaw pitched well enough to earn the 201st win of his career. Max Muncy continued his power surge with his league-leading 11th home run of the season, and Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts hit his first bomb in two weeks to get to the NL ERA leader Marcus Stroman.
Let’s get into the highlights.
The Cubs got on the board first thanks in part to a Max Muncy error at third. Chicago carried a 2-0 lead into the third until Mookie did this.
It was hit third home run of the season and first since April 10th in San Francisco. It was also the first one since he became a papa for the second time. #DadStrength
The Cubbies reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning on a Yan Gomes home run. Kershaw knew it off the bat.
The Dodger bats very much got to National League ERA leader (entering the game) Marcus Stroman in the sixth with two run Max Muncy homer followed by a J.D. Martinez solo shot (his 4th of the year) to take the 5-3 lead.
Max Muncy hit 4 home runs in the series in Chicago.
Mookie Betts chipped in 2 more runs with a double in the top of the 9th.
That’s 2 hits and 4 RBI for the starting shortstop.
Mookie on his first career start at the position: “it was a lot of fun. The most important thing is we won.”
One concerning note, 17 of the 22 runs the Dodgers scored in the four game series at Wrigley Field came via the home run ball.
Dodger Pitching
Clayton Kershaw was solid in 6 innings. He allowed one earned run on 3 hits and a walk. He struck out 6 en route to win number 4 this season, tying him for the MLB lead in wins. His 2.32 ERA is 7th best in the NL.
Lefty Justin Bruihl got the 7th, tossing his 4th clean inning since being recalled from Triple-A OKC earlier this week.
Brusdar Graterol took down the final two innings, pitching around some traffic in the 9th to pick up his first save of the season.
Up Next
The Dodgers are off on Monday, the club’s first day off in 10 games. They’ll fly to Pittsburgh and open a three game series against the Pirates starting on Tuesday. Noah Syndergaard starts on Tuesday before Tony Gonsolin makes his 2023 debut on Wednesday. Julio Urias will look to get back on track in an early start on Thursday morning.
