Dodgers Drop Doubleheaders, Series to Cubs – 5/4/21

Dodgers Drop Doubleheaders

Dodgers Drop Doubleheaders, Series to Cubs – 5/4/21

The Dodgers drop the second of two doubleheaders to the Cubs in a truly crushing 4-3 loss. Read on if you missed it or want to relive the misery.

First Inning Traffic

Mookie Betts started off the game with a double, followed by a six pitch walk from Corey Seager.  Next up, Chris Taylor grounded into a double play at third on some quick thinking from third base player David Bote who scooped the ball, tagged third to get Betts, then fired across the infield to get Taylor.  Smith grounded out to third to end the inning.

Trevor Bauer took the mound and started out the game with a battle with Old Dodger Friend Joc Pederson.  Dodger fans will be surprised to know that Joc won the contest with a nine pitch walk. I know, right?  Bauer then issued a four pitch walk to Kris Bryant. Bote flied out to center, but moved Joc from second to third.  Bryant then stole second during Jason Heyward’s at-bat.  Then Heyward struck out, leaving Byrant stranded.

Second Inning

For the bottom of the second, Muncy went down looking at a slider that he felt was low, but was fully in the zone.  Pollock and Thompson then went head to head and on the tenth pitch, Pollock bounced a grounder through the shift all the way out to Joc in left field.  Ríos came up next and attempted a bunt but it went foul.  He grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Bauer started the second inning with another walk, this one in seven pitches to Ildemaro Vargas. Eric Sogard grounded out to Seager, but because of the shift his only play was at first, so Vargas reached second safely.  Bauer then struck out Tony Wolters and Keegan Thompson to end the inning.

Dodgers Set Down on Nine Pitches

A rather dismal top of the third for Dodger bats.  Lux grounded out, Bauer strikes out, Betts pops out. All on nine pitches from Keegan Thompson.

Joc Pederson opened the third inning with another high pitch count, but this time Bauer strikes him out on eight pitches.  Bryant dropped a double in close to the left field line ahead of Pollock.  Rizzo popped out to Ríos and Bote grounded out to Muncy to end the third.

Thompson Leaves, Dodgers Still Messy

Thompson took the mound again for the top of the fourth.  Seager grounded out to to first.  Taylor worked the count full and walked in seven pitches.  Smith hit a very long out to the corner of right field, advancing Smith to second base.  Thompson’s excellent night ended here with 61 pitches, two hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.  Rex Brothers entered the game to get Max looking – once more on a ball in the middle low zone.

A messy bottom of the fourth for Bauer.  Heyword started the inning with a no-doubter to center field on the first pitch of the inning.  Vargas came up and got a five pitch walk. Sogard singled and moved Vargas to third.  Wollters bunted, but runners held and he was thrown out at first.  Pederson was (barely) hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Bryant made Bauer throw him seven pitches before he was called out on strikes.  Bauer got out of the jam, but not before giving up a home run a 0-1 lead to the Cubs.

Quick Work From Both Pitchers in the Fifth

Reliever Ryan Tepera took the mound for the Cubs in the fifth.  Pollock grounded out to second on an excellent dive from second base player Vargas, who beat Pollock with a throw to first by less than a step.  Ríos and Lux both grounded out to end the inning.

Victor Gonzáles came on in relief.  Heyward hit a single down the first base line, but Muncy scooped it and threw Rizzo out at home.  Rizzo tried to dodge the tag but Smith got him.  Vargas then struck out on a swing he couldn’t check in time.

Quick work From Chafin, Treinen Gets Out of a Jam

Matt Beaty was on call to start off the sixth inning, but when the Cubs brought out reliever Andrew Chafin, he was replaced with Sheldon Neuse.  It the move didn’t quite pay off, as Neuse went down swinging on six pitches.  Betts flied out on the next pitch.  Seager managed to put a single up the middle of the field, but was left on base when Taylor grounded out to third.

Both Sogard and Wolters beat the shift towards third to single off of Blake Treinen.  Ríos badly bobbled a hit from Báez to load the bases.  Next up, we got a Joc Pop..up to Seager at second for the first out, triggering the infield fly rule. Treinen struck out Bryant on a half-hearted swing with a 98 MPH sinker.  He then put down Rizzo swinging on his 19th pitch of the inning, getting out of a huge jam.

Max Ties the Game

Craig Kimbrel came in for the Cubs in the top of the seventh for the Cubs and quickly struck out Smith in three pitches.  On the fourth pitch of his at-bat, Muncy blasted a solo shot into right center that injected some life into the team and into the Dodger fans in the stands at Wrigley.  Pollock popped out in foul territory to Rizzo and Ríos was called out on strikes, but Max tied the game at 1-1.

The Dodgers called on Kenley Jansen to shut down the seventh and force extra innings. Bote flied out to center, but Jansen walked Heyward in five pitches.  Luckily, Vargas grounded into a double play to end the inning.  Jansen only threw fifteen pitches, all but two of them cutter.

Going Into Extras…in the 8th Inning

Because this was a seven inning double header, Ríos started at second due to the extra innings rule.  Lux grounded out softly to third, but advanced Ríos to third.  This payed off big time when a wild pitch from Cubs pitcher Dillion Maples allowed him to come home to break the tie.  Dodgers up 2-1. Turner turned around a 95 MPH sinker to left field to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.  Betts then walked on five pitches.  Seager came up and had to dance away from a few balls.  Maples was looking wilder and wilder, but he settled down and battle back to strike out Seager and then Taylor to sent the game into extra innings aka, the 8th.

Mitch White entered the game for the Dodgers with Vargas on second.  Marisnick grounded sharply to Seager, who threw very low to Muncy but Muncy dug it out for the first out.  Vargas stayed at second, but advanced to third on a wild pitch from White during Javier Báez’s at-bat.  Then Javy made the steal moot when he blasted a two run homer over the left field wall, tying the game at 3-3.  White then issued a four pitch walk to pinch-hitting Wilson Contreras.  During the Bryant at-bat, Muncy leapt up for a catch to keep a bad pickoff attempt from being worse.  Bryant popped up to Muncy and the Dodgers go to extra innings again.

Dodgers Drop Both Doubleheader Games to the Cubs

Chris Taylor started at second and Justin Steele started on the bump for the Cubs.  Smith struck out swinging.  Muncy flied to left field.  Pollock was intentionally walked and Barnes struck out swinging in a pinch hitting situation.

Garrett Cleavinger started the 9th for the Dodgers with Kris Bryant on second.  Rizzo ground out but moved Bryant over to third.  Bote hit a single over Mookie Betts’s head and the Cubs walked off the Dodgers 3-4.

The Dodgers drop both doubleheader games as well as their fourth series in a row.  They play the Cubs again tomorrow at 4:40p PST before heading to Anaheim.  Here’s top hoping they at least manage a happy getaway day tomorrow.

To read about the OTHER time the Dodgers lost today, click here.

 

Responses

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Responses

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.