Hitting slump continues as Cubs drop Game 3
For the first time this year, the Chicago Cubs are up against some real adversity.
Fortunately for them, they're only a victory away from changing the narrative back in their favor again.
But for that to happen the hitters have to get going.
The Cubs were shut out for the second straight game Tuesday night as they fell 6-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven National League championship series two-games-to-one.
On a beautiful night in Southern California, former Cubs lefty Rich Hill was on top of his game, as he pitched 6 innings of 2-hit ball, with both hits being singles off the bat of Kris Bryant.
For many anxious Cubs fans, this series is looking like last year's NLCS, when New York Mets pitching shut down the Cubs in a four-game sweep.
“No, new team, new season,” Bryant said. “I haven't really thought about last year at all. This is a very different situation, too. I felt like last year the pitching just beat us. I feel like right now, we've had some chances. We're only down 2-1. Last year at this time, we were down three, and that's always a tough hole to climb out of. We feel fine.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon tried to breathe some life into his slumbering lineup by tweaking it. Left-handed hitting right fielder Jason Heyward sat at the start in favor of Jorge Soler, who went 0-for-1 with a walk. Maddon flip-flopped Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rizzo, moving Rizzo from third to fourth and Zobrist from cleanup to third.
Rizzo managed a broken-bat infield single in the ninth, but he is 1-for-11 in the NLCS after going 1-for-15 in the division series against the San Francisco Giants.
Maddon again pinch hit for struggling shortstop Addison Russell after Russell went hitless in 2 at-bats, making him 0-for-9 in this series after a 1-for-15 NLDS.
“We're not hitting the ball hard,” said Maddon, as neither Rizzo nor Russell talked after the game. “They've pitched well. Obviously, I have no solid explanation. We've just got to keep working at it. There is really no excuse. We just have to pick it up quickly.”
The Dodgers had no such problems. After winning Game 2 by a 1-0 score behind pitcher Clayton Kershaw, they scored 4 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings against Jake Arrieta.
Corey Seager had an RBI single in the third. In the fourth, Yasmani Grandal hit a 2-run homer to right-center. Arrieta's night was done when he gave up a leadoff homer to Justin Turner in the sixth.
“It was a grind,” Arrieta said. “They just outplayed us on both sides tonight.”
Like the rest of his mates, Arrieta was putting on his bravest face.
“I like our chances,” he said. “Anytime you have a ballclub like we do, with guys with a lot of postseason experience on the mound in (John) Lackey (Wednesday night), we feel good about it. Nobody wants to be down 2-1, but at the same time, we had a really tough game against Kershaw. He pitched extremely well.
“Hill was tough on us tonight. They were pretty good offensively. They put up some really good at-bats, hit some good pitches, did a little bit more than enough to get the win against us tonight.”
Hill, now 36, remains a good story. He first came up with the Cubs in 2005 as a curveball-fastball guy. After going through more downs that ups in his career, he went a combined 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA between Oakland and the Dodgers this season.
“It's the biggest game of my career, and it's all about staying in the moment and executing when you're in that moment,” he said. “And that's all you can think about. And that's all you can control, is that pitch.
“But for me, looking back and getting to this point, it's just putting in the work, putting in the time, having a routine, persevere, all those things that you can kind of say sum up some kind of endurance or resiliency.
“That's all I've ever known, is just work and just continue to do the work.”
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