Cubs go down swinging, win streak ended by Dodgers
Before Saturday's game a reporter brought up the Cubs' MLB-best walk to strikeout ratio and manager Craig Counsell responded by saying it's unsustainable.
Sometimes you just know.
On the warmest day of the week, Cubs bats were put in a deep freeze by Dodgers pitching. The Cubs managed 7 hits but struck out 14 times and ended their five-game win streak with a 4-1 loss at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs loaded the bases in both the first and second innings against Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but they did no damage.
Cubs starter Jordan Wicks also worked through some traffic, but the Dodgers broke a scoreless tie by scoring 3 runs after he left the mound in the fifth. Still, this was the first time all season the Dodgers were held below 5 runs in a game.
“We pitched well today,” Counsell said. “What this (Los Angeles) lineup's good at is making you earn every out.”
The Cubs' first three batters reached in the first inning, starting with an Ian Happ double over the center fielder's head. But Yamamoto came back to strike out Christopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch to end the inning.
A Yan Gomes double started a two-out rally in the second, but it quickly ended when Cody Bellinger took a called third strike.
At 25 Yamamoto is five years younger than the Cubs' Shota Imanaga, another rookie pitcher from Japan who will get his second MLB start Sunday. Yamamoto, who earned his first major-league win, mixed a four-seam, curve and splitter during his five innings.
“He has a unique delivery,” Nico Hoerner said. “I think the timing aspect of him is unique. He obviously has a good fastball and was able to command his breaking ball today.”
This was Wicks' ninth MLB start. The left-hander from Kansas State has a 4.15 ERA in two outings this season, but he's faced the Rangers and Dodgers, maybe the two best lineups in baseball.
One encouraging sign was Wicks essentially abandoned his changeup — his most frequently used pitch last season — and had enough success with his fastball and slider to stay competitive.
“I felt like it was a really good day for the slider,” he said. “The changeup was a little off today, just running a little bit more arm side, didn't have a great feel for it.
“Everybody knows me for fastball-changeup. You have days like this every now and then where it's not exactly where you want it to be. Being able to pivot to Plan B, Plan C is huge, because it allows you to get through some jams.”
The fifth inning proved to be pivotal. With two runners on base, Wicks struck out Freddie Freeman for the second out of the inning, on his career-high 100th pitch of the game.
Jose Cuas came in from the bullpen and gave up a walk, run-scoring wild pitch and 2-run double to Max Muncy to bring in 3 runs, two of which were charged to Wicks.
“I thought he emptied the tank to get Freeman out and it was time to go to the bullpen and it just didn't play after that,” Counsell said.
Had Wicks kept his pitch count down a bit and finished off the fifth inning, it might be a different game.
“I kind of backed myself in a corner starting the inning 3-0 to (Austin) Barnes (who singled),” Wicks said. “It's not ideal there. I knew my rope was thin at that point, had worked some laborious innings, so for me it was just kind of make each pitch at that point the best I possibly could.”
The Cubs finally got on the scoreboard in the ninth when Swanson singled and Busch doubled to start the inning against Evan Phillips. Swanson eventually scored on a ground out by Miles Mastrobuoni and the Cubs brought the tying run to the plate, but Happ struck out to end the game,
Wisdom joins Iowa: Patrick Wisdom, who started the season on the injured list with back soreness, began a rehab assignment at Triple A Iowa on Saturday. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and sacrifice fly.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports