Well, the Dodgers took one back from the Cubs and knocked them pretty darn good. Good to see. Final from Chavez Ravine: Dodgers 12, Cubs 4.
Sasaki Survives
Roki Sasaki is a big story in a way. The line wasn’t great — 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K — and the problem was the long ball. He gave up three home runs. But here’s some encouragement: 66 strikes on 99 pitches, and his splitter was nasty (Dodgers Nation broke down the splitter velocity bump). He kept the walks down, missed bats, and got the W when the offense came alive.
The Offense
Fourteen hits, eleven RBI, and a pair of crooked numbers — six in the fourth and four in the sixth — that put this one out of reach. Hyeseong Kim got things started, going 2-for-5. Alex Freeland was a show, 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, and Dalton Rushing continues to go. Teo got a couple of hits, which was nice to see — it’s been a while for him.
Max Muncy got the biggest damage with a two-run shot. Bad news there: he was feeling sick and left the game early, so hopefully it’s nothing serious. And Andy Pages went 2-for-5 with three RBI, so maybe he’s starting to come out of it a little bit. That would be a great, great thing.
The Bullpen
Sasaki went five-plus and Jack Dreyer had to come in. Jack had a little bit of issues and couldn’t quite get it good and finish. Then Will Klein came in and was the highlight of the relief corps: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. With him you’ve also got to watch the balls and strikes — 15 strikes out of 21 pitches is not bad at all.
Crow-Armstrong
Let’s talk a little bit of fun. Everyone’s favorite clown on the Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong, missed a ball that turned into a double in center field — or was it a triple? Doesn’t matter, it was beautiful. He didn’t get credit with an error, but it was still fun to watch. He’s Mr. Over-Effort. The ball’s 200 feet over his head and he’s still jumping for it. He’s that guy who dives when he doesn’t need to dive.
But most importantly, he’s just kind of a dork when it comes to dealing with Dodgers fans. He went out and did some very, very juvenile things — talking smack to Dodgers fans. That’s just absolutely stupid. It’s a clown show. But hey: four ABs, four Ks. Love it, love it, love it. PCA, you’re my hero. Good to see that. Dude, you just made lifelong enemies of a fandom — and you did it without even thinking about it. Not intelligent.
Box Score
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cubs | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Dodgers | 12 | 14 | 1 |
WP: Sasaki (5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) LP: Rea (3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K)
HR: Muncy (LAD); Suzuki, Ballesteros, Amaya (CHC)
Imanaga vs. Wrobleski
Tomorrow we’ve got a couple of lefties doing really well. Shota Imanaga going against our own Justin Wrobleski, fresh off a wonderful start against the Rockies.
That’s it for now. God bless and go Dodgers.
- MLB.com Gameday — full pitch-by-pitch and Statcast data
- CBS Sports box score — clean inning-by-inning and player lines
- Roki Sasaki’s Mixed Bag Start vs. Cubs Continues Rollercoaster (Dodgers Nation)
- Sasaki Looks to Steady Himself Amidst Recent Struggles (Dodgers Digest)
Note: This post was drafted using Wispr Flow and Claude.