Cubs lose heartbreaker in walk-off fashion against Dodgers |
LOS ANGELES - To say the Chicago Cubs (7-6) are a completely different team than the past two years would be an understatement. You can see that this weekend with how they are competing against the Los Angeles Dodgers (8-7). Remember, this team entered this season riding 10 consecutive wins against the Cubs and has had their number going back to 2019.
If the first two games at Dodgers Stadium this weekend have taught the fans anything, this Cubs team could be better than we all thought. With the Cubs holding a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers entering the ninth inning, Michael Fulmer was called on for the save. Fulmer pitched into trouble as the Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out. That was when David Peralta came through with a massive hit as his RBI single gave the Dodgers a walk-off 2-1 win over the Cubs. This was a painful loss for Chicago and an extremely frustrating outing for Jameson Taillon, who took a no-decision in this one. After struggling mightily in his first two outings, Taillon finally gave the Cubs an outing they were hoping for as he held the Dodgers to two hits with seven strikeouts. Granted, he only went five innings, but this was a step in the right direction for him to build on. Opposing him was Michael Grove, who was in a similar boat to that of Taillon. Grove has been lit up through two starts this season, as his ERA entering the game was north of 10.00. He allowed just one run on two hits across 5 2/3 while striking out six before it became a battle of the bullpens. As good as Taillon was, he ran into some first-inning trouble when he allowed a one-out single to Freddie Freeman, followed by a walk to Max Muncy. Taillon would eventually pitch around that jam and pretty much lights out the rest of the way. The problem was Grove was equally as good, with Cody Bellinger providing one of the Cubs two hits off of Grove in the second inning for what otherwise was a quiet day for the offense. With the next few innings featuring minimal baserunners, the Cubs offense hoped to get something going in the fifth as Trey Mancini led things off with a walk. That momentum was quickly snatched away when Grove got Eric Hosmer to ground into a double play, and that proved costly as Patrick Wisdom connected for another homer shortly after. Had there been runners on base, that homer would have done more damage, but instead, it was a 1-0 Cubs lead. Despite that homer, Grove finished his outing without further damage, and it became a battle of the bullpens in the sixth inning. Mark Leiter Jr was the first one out of the pen for the Cubs and worked around a hit batter to strike out the side in the sixth. You then had the Cubs looking to rally against Alex Vesia in the seventh, with Seiya Suzuki leading off the seventh with a single, which was followed by a Bellinger walk. The problem was Suzuki was caught trying to steal second before the walk, so what could have been an even bigger scoring chance went out the window. Following the outing from Leiter Jr came Keegan Thompson, who continued to do his thing with a pair of scoreless frames. Looking for a giant momentum swing, the Dodgers got that momentum swing in the eighth, while the Cubs saw all their momentum go right out the window. With Yency Almonte on the mound, Tucker Barnhardt looked to get the party going as he reached base with a one-out single. That single was only the beginning, as Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson followed that up with a pair of walks to load the bases and signaled the call to Caleb Ferguson out of the pen. Hoping for, at worst, a fly ball to bring home another run, Ferguson was up to the challenge and struck out both Ian Happ and Suzuki to keep the score at 1-0. That inning proved costly as the Cubs were still clinging to their 1-0 lead with the Dodgers down to their final three outs. Hoping to lock things down in the ninth, Fulmer was on for the save and immediately found himself in a tight spot. After retiring the first hitter, Fulmer allowed a one-out single to James Outman while Miguel Vargas added a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position with just one down. Fulmer responded by striking out Jason Heyward and had the Dodgers down to the final out. However, the Dodgers would get the last laugh as Peralta came through with a hard-hit ground ball to right field, which proved to be the game-winning hit in the Dodgers 2-1 walk-off win. Offense was tough to come by as the two teams combined for just nine hits. Four came from the Cubs, with Bellinger, Wisdom, Barnhardt, and Suzuki grabbing hits.
