Man of Steel: Steele provides stellar start as Cubs beat up Dodgers |
LOS ANGELES - When the Los Angeles Dodgers (7-7) eliminated the Chicago Cubs (7-5) from the 2017 NLCS, you can say that these teams have gone in different directions. You have the Cubs, who stayed competitive for a few more seasons before electing to blow it up and start over.
Then you have the Dodgers, who have been the Class of the NL West since 2008 and have continued to be World Series contenders. Going back to 2019, the Cubs had dropped 10-straight contests against this Dodgers club, and they went 0-6 against them last season. Something had to give, right? Well, that something was left-hander Justin Steele who continues to impress on the mound. In front of 52K fans at Dodgers Stadium, Steele picked a perfect time to deliver one of the better outings of his career as he went seven innings and allowed just three hits with eight strikeouts. Granted, two of those hits were homers, but it doesn't make a difference when your offense gives you five homers of support, as the Cubs ended their three-year losing streak to the Dodgers 8-2. Going back to last June, Steele has been on quite a roll as his 1.57 ERA since Jun 20th of last season is second in the MLB only behind Justin Verlander. That is not a small sample size, and it is time for people to give credit where credit is due, as Steele is emerging as a dominant lefty on the mound. With Noah Syndergaard opposing him, the Cubs knew they had to strike fast if they wanted to potentially steal a win from LA. Justin Steele, Wicked Sliders. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/F8GG66OP2A It didn't come easy as both teams were held scoreless through two innings, with Steele striking out four in those two frames. .@J_Steele21 has recorded quality starts in 6 of his last 7 outings 👏 pic.twitter.com/OhEQeVrgTf
Once the third inning began, you could see the Cubs start to settle in, which all started with one of Yan Gomes three hits on the day. Gomes would shockingly steal second later in the inning before coming home on the ground rule double from Ian Happ to make things 1-0. Happ scorches one and the Cubs strike first! pic.twitter.com/D8eoPka6rm Happ had a massive game going 4-4 at the plate with a walk and driving in three. Not to be outdone, Chris Taylor only needed to see one pitch in the bottom of the third to tie things up as he took a Steele slider and deposited it over the left field fence to make things 1-1. Steele followed that up with his lone walk of the game, but induced a double play to kill the rally before ending the frame. The Cubs continued their patient yet aggressive approach in the fourth, with Cody Bellinger ripping a leadoff double in front of his old home crowd. Bellinger then displayed great baserunning to advance to third on a grounder, then came home on the Eric Hosmer grounder as the Cubs never trailed in this game. Chicago continued to build on their lead in the fifth, with Gomes going deep for his second homer of the season as the Cubs led 3-1. Yan Gomes - Chicago Cubs (3)
This was not only the beginning for Gomes but also the beginning of a home run derby from the Cubs offense, whose bats started to heat up late. Following that homer, the Cubs had a chance for more, with Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ picking up walks, but they were unable to push across any more runs. That didn't seem to matter as Steele was so dialed in that the Dodgers were left guessing until the seventh inning when he began to run out of gas. Not only did Max Muncy lead things off with a homer in that inning, but Steele allowed several hard-hit balls in the inning as the Dodgers appeared to have finally figured him out. All that matters is that he had the lead when the inning was over, as Steele got through seven innings and allowed just two runs. Given the job that Steele had done, you knew the offense wanted to reward him and that they did over the next two frames. With Andre Jackson on to pitch the eighth, Happ not only led the inning off with a solo shot, but Seiya Suzuki made his season debut and capped off his night by going back-to-back with Happ to push the lead to 5-2. No doubter from @ihapp_1! pic.twitter.com/cCaIuIOazA Seiya Suzuki - Chicago Cubs (1)
Bellinger nearly followed that up with a homer of his own, but Patrick Wisdom made it three homers in four at-bats to extend the lead to 6-2. Patrick Wisdom - Chicago Cubs (4)
The Cubs continued their home run barrage off of Jackson in the ninth as Gomes went deep for his second of the night and fifth of the game for the Cubs as their lead grew to 7-2. Yan Gomes - Chicago Cubs (3)
Throw in a Hoerner single and another RBI hit from Happ, and the Cubs busted the game open at 8-2 and just three outs to go. Michael Rucker was summoned for those three outs, and he took care of business to retire the side in order and gave the Cubs a massive series-opening win. The Cubs not only had five homers, but 12 hits as Happ (4) and Gomes (3) led the way. Five other players had at least one hit in the game, with Gomes and Happ combining for five RBIs in the win. The Cubs will turn to Jameson Taillon, who is searching for his first win on Saturday night as he will oppose Michael Grove.
pic.twitter.com/kacyAE5mD7
pic.twitter.com/JtJhdoc0Wo
pic.twitter.com/vax1mctLj4
pic.twitter.com/kacyAE5mD7
A warm welcome for Cody. 💙 pic.twitter.com/uNF7IMmD1f
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 15, 2023
