Pollock and Muncy power Dodgers to victory

LOS ANGELES — We’ll take it. After four games of NOT hitting in clutch situations, finally the Dodgers got two big hits in a big spot on Friday night. This time, it was AJ Pollock who finally broke through with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth. The blast broke a 2-2 tie and Max Muncy followed up with a two-run homer of his own and propelled the Dodgers to a 6-2 win against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers in a hole early

In a game that ended very well, it started off looking painfully familiar. Throughout this four-game losing streak, the Dodgers have been plagued by home runs in the first inning. And this game was no different. This time, it was Kris Bryant who did the honors, smashing a pitch from Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin over the left field fence for a solo home run. Just like it’s been all week, the Dodgers were in a quick hole. Luckily the damage was limited to Bryant’s blast and the Dodgers were off the field after one more hitter.

Belli manufactures a run in the second

In the bottom of the second, the Dodgers got that run right back, thanks to some good ol’ fashioned baseball. Cody Bellinger led off with a solid single to center and stole second on the very next pitch. Then, two ground balls were enough to advance Bellinger ninety feet at a time and score the Dodgers’ first run in quite some time. After being no-hit the night before, getting on the board early was critical for the Dodgers.

Zach attack in the third

And, to add to the good news, Zach McKinstry flashed some power in the next inning. On the very first pitch of the third inning, McKinstry took Cubs starter Jake Arrieta deep for a solo home run to put the Dodgers up 2-1. McKinstry got a 92-mph sinker where he wanted it and highjacked Arrieta with a blast to break the tie. It was McKinstry first long fly since April, when he burst on to the scene with such a good run before he got injured. More of this, please, Zach.

Good solid start for the Cat Man

The score stayed right there in the middle innings, thanks to some quality pitching on both sides. Gonsolin had his best start of the year, going 4.0 innings on 69 pitches, giving up only that Bryant home run and striking out seven. It wasn’t the most efficient outing in that less than sixty percent of his pitches were strikes, but he worked through the occasional deep count to hold the Northsiders at bay.

Joctober ties it up in the seventh

The Dodgers had two or three good opportunities to score during the game, but still lacked that key two-out hit that had characterized the team earlier in the year. For the game, they hit only 1-for-9 with RISP, so it wasn’t a perfect game at the plate by any means. And, when the Cubs were able to tie it with a Joc Pederson sac fly in the seventh inning, it looked like we might have another nail-biter on our hands.

The big eighth inning

Enter our two heroes. With the score still knotted at two, Gavin Lux led off the eighth inning with a walk from reliever Ryan Tepera, who had been part of the group no-hitter the night before. AJ Pollock came to the plate looking to do damage against the Cubs right hander. And damage he did. He took a 1-1 sinker from Tepera and gave it a ride. It looked great off the bat, but seemed like it might have died a little in flight, and Joc Pederson might have had a play. Pederson leapt, but the ball was just beyond his glove and landed in the stands for a tie-breaking home run.

A few batters later, Max Muncy did exactly the same thing, only to right field. Suddenly the game was broken wide open. It was 6-2 and finally the capacity crowd had something to cheer about.

Kenley cleans up to break the skid

Kenley Jansen gave up a lead-off single in the ninth, but otherwise pitched an uneventful inning to close out the game and break the Dodgers’ losing streak. Hopefully, this will be a turning point and the Dodgers can start manning up and winning some of these games against contenders. They’ve got two more against the Cubs and two with the division-leading Giants before they head to the East Coast for games against the Nats and Marlins.

Fox broadcast on Saturday

Tomorrow night, we’re back to Julio Urias’s spot in the rotation, where this little skid began. He’ll be matched up against Alec Mills, who pitched a no-hitter last year, but has been struggling to find his stroke in 2021. First Pitch is at 4:15 for the Fox Sports exclusive.