Steve Webb
CHICAGO, IL — Because of course. It only figures in this topsy-turvy season that the day after losing in an embarrassing blowout, the Dodgers would come back with one of their strongest offensive performances of the year. Riding two-homer games from both Max Muncy and James Outman, the Dodgers put nine runs on the scoreboard en route to a comfortable 9-4 win over the Cubs in Chicago.
Before the game, there were snow flurries in the Windy City, and during the game, the Dodgers had a flurry of hits. In all it was 11 base knocks on the day, a far cry from Friday’s game when you couldn’t locate the Dodgers’ offense with the Hubble telescope.
After trading single runs in the first inning, James Outman started where he had left off on Thursday night. After getting into an 0-2 hole to Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski, Outman took a borderline pitch for a ball to get back into the count. Then, Wesneski caught way too much of the plate with his next pitch, a 79-mph sweeper, and Outman drilled the ball. It wasn’t quite as majestic as his homers on Thursday, more of a line shot, but with the help of the wind, it cleared the right field fence and the Dodgers were back in the lead.
Outman was at it again in the 4th, when he extended the lead with an RBI single to score J.D. Martinez from second base. If he had done only that, it would have been plenty. However, he had more planned for later in the game.
Meanwhile, Dustin May had a nice bounce-back outing after throwing a bit of a clunker on his last start in LA. He went 5.1 innings, giving up only 2 runs on 2 hits. Plus, it seemed like he rediscovered his strikeout pitch in this one. At one point earlier in the year, May’s K’s per nine was among the lowest in the league, which was a bit shocking for a guy with his filthy stuff. However, on Saturday, he got a lot of swing and miss, and ended up striking out six Cubs on the day. Good stuff from Code Red.
Things got a little dicey after May exited the game in the 6th with the Dodgers only up 4-2. Alex Vesia came in and immediately got squeezed on the strike zone for a four pitch walk to Cody Bellinger. After a double steal, the tying run was in scoring position for the Cubs’ powerful Patrick Wisdom, who has nine homers of his own on the year.
However, this time Vesia dug deep. He got Wisdom on a harmless infield pop-up to Freddie Freeman, and then punched out pinch hitter Nick Madrigal to end the threat. Big confidence boost for Vesia, who is still searching for consistency.
When game headed into the late innings, it was Max Muncy’s turn to get in on the fun. He hit homers in both the 7th and 9th to give the Dodgers ample breathing room. Muncy now has a share of the home run lead in MLB, tied with the Mets’ Pete Alonso with 10.
The second Muncy homer made it 7-4 Dodgers, which should have been plenty to win this one, but James Outman wanted to make extra sure. After a Jason Heyward walk, Outman blasted a no-doubter to right, his fourth home run since the Dodgers’ plane touched down at O’Hare. This kid is on fire!
Cans of Corn…
- Temperature officially was in the low 40s, but the guys looked a lot colder than that.
- Mookie played second base in this one. No issues. With Outman playing so great, you have to think that Mookie will probably see more time in the infield so that Tarzan’s bat can be in the lineup.
- J-Hey hit a few balls hard, but nothing to show for it. Would like to see him give Chicago a taste of what they’re paying for this year.
- Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman had the prettiest out of the day. Short hops on both ends. Freeman’s dig was especially impressive.
- Miguel Vargas came through with a nice pinch-hit RBI single to give the Dodgers a 4-2. Big hit in a big moment for the rookie.
- Shelby Miller went 1-2-3 in the 9th. He’s probably the hottest bullpen piece we’ve got right now. He had a hiccup in his last appearance, but nails other than that.
- The series wraps up with a third day game in a row at Wrigley (cuz nobody wants to be outside in Chicago in this weather, not even Jussie Smollet).
- After a rough outing on Friday, Jake Reed got back on the DFA train on Saturday. Poor guy. Victor Gonzalez is called up in his place. Nice to see him get back on track.
- Should be a great pitching match-up All-time great Clayton Kershaw verus current NL ERA leader Marcus Stroman. Stroman has only given up two earned runs in 24 innings so far this season, which translates into a 0.74 ERA. It would be nice to break through against a pitcher of this caliber and get a winning streak going. 11:10 LA time for the first pitch.
- LFG!
