Game Recap: Dodgers blank Cubs

Kiyoshi Mio - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 7 hours ago

LOS ANGELES - Anytime you play the Los Angeles Dodgers (11-4), you need to play as perfectly as possible, as one mistake could dictate the final result. That was precisely what happened to the Chicago Cubs (9-7) at Dodger Stadium on Friday as one Matthew Boyd mistake was all the Dodgers needed to pick up a 3-0 victory.

It came in the sixth inning after Boyd went toe-to-toe with Yoshinobu Yamamoto as both teams were held scoreless through five. It was in that sixth inning when Boyd not only allowed his first runner in scoring position but made one costly mistake that led to Tommy Edman cranking his MLB-leading sixth homer and 14th career homer against the Cubs to put the Dodgers on top 3-0 as they would win by that score.

For Boyd, not only were those the first earned runs he allowed all season, but it was also the first extra-base hit he allowed through three starts this season. Loss or not, Boyd has been nothing short of impressive to begin his Chicago Cubs career, posting a 1.59 ERA thus far and going six strong innings against the Dodgers, allowing four hits and striking out seven.

The only problem was that Yamamoto was much better as the right-hander carved up the Cubs from the first inning and was as dialed in as we have seen him this season. Yamamoto matched Boyd with six innings, striking out nine and allowing two hits, both of which came in the same inning. He gave way to the three-headed monster in the back of the pen as Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, and Tanner Scott came in to lock things down and closed out yet another victory over the Cubs.

While the Cubs have gotten off to a good start this season, the Dodgers are the one team they have struggled with the most, going 0-3 against them thus far as opposed to 9-4 against everyone else. To make matters worse, the Cubs have scored three or fewer runs in all those matchups and have scored just seven total runs against the Dodgers pitching staff with four more meetings to come the next two weeks.

Even with the Dodgers putting baserunners on in each of the first three innings, nothing came from Boyd, who was able to keep them out of scoring position. That has been a trend for Boyd all season, as teams have combined to go just 3-34 against him with runners in scoring position. One of those came on the homer from Edman, which was also the first extra-base he allowed this season.

Anytime you come away with just two hits against a team like the Dodgers, your chances of winning are slim to none. Slim was hanging in the balance in the fourth inning when the Cubs had both hits, and Kyle Tucker came through with a one-out double to become the first player to reach scoring position. His double was followed by a Seiya Suzuki single, and it looked as if the Cubs would have runners on the corners with one out.

That was until Suzuki tried to advance to second on the play as Tucker was held at third, forcing Suzuki into a rundown. He would get tagged out on the play as Michael Busch would strike out to end the inning and virtually end any chance of the Cubs finding a way to spring an upset. With one base runner, the rest of the game came on an Ian Happ sixth-inning walk, and it would come down to Boyd and the pitching as the Cubs offense was held in check.

Still tied in the sixth, the Dodgers offense finally started to show signs of life, and it came from the meat of their order, as Teoscar Hernandez delivered a one-out single to leave and set the offense up. A Freddie Freeman followed that hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on base as Hernandez became the first Dodger to reach scoring position in the game.

At that moment, the game changed, and it changed on one swing of the bat from Edman as he turned on a Boyd change-up and launched it into the Los Angeles night as his three-run shot put the Dodgers in front 3-0. For Edman, he now has six homers in his last six games and is tied for the MLB lead with the likes of Aaron Judge and others.

With Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts picking up a pair of singles off Ethan Roberts in the seventh, Los Angeles was on the verge of breaking things open, only to have Roberts escape trouble. It didn't matter as the Cubs were unable to solve the Dodgers pen and fell to 0-3 against Los Angeles this season.

Chicago will look to even the series on Saturday when they send Ben Brown to the mound against Roki Sasaki.