Night two in Chicago went about as well as night one, as once again the Dodgers fell to the Cubs by a score of 7-6. Today was a bullpen day, and the opener for the Dodgers was Ben Casparius, who pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball to go along with four strikeouts. You could not ask for better for your opener. Anthony Banda gave the team 0.2 IP of work before the wheels fell off when Noah Davis entered the game, and gave up three earned runs, thanks to another Pete Crow-Armstrong homer, who seems to find new strength when playing his hometown Dodgers. Chicago has not been kind to Noah; his ERA stands around 40.50 in his limited work over the last two nights. It then got worse when Jack Dreyer came in to give an innings’ worth of work, surrendering four earned runs with three walks. The rest of the night, the bullpen shut out the Cubs, but the damage was done by then. On the offensive side of things, Teoscar Hernandez showed off his power in the fifth and went deep, and in the sixth, Andy Pages went deep again to make the score 7-6, which ended up being the final score.
Wrigley Field has always been a place where crazy happens, and the last two nights have shown that even when your offense is playing well, if the pitching doesn’t match, you can be in for some losses, like the two the Dodgers have experienced at the hands of Chicago. No beating around the bush or sugar coating will happen here; these were two games the Dodgers should have won, and moving forward, they must win. While it is early, the tough losses in April always seem to haunt teams once September rolls around, and with the NL West being as deep and challenging as it is, these losses can be the difference between a division championship and a wild card berth. The offense will continue to fire off its muscle against opposing pitchers, which does not worry me. The pitching will have to get itself in shape and start controlling these types of games in the future. What will happen to Noah Davis is anybody’s guess, but if he remains on the big league roster, we need to hope he gets it figured out and that Chicago is just a bad place to play for him. Blake Snell is being shut down today and going for more imaging, which can sound some alarms, so fingers crossed he will not be out for an extended amount of time, as he will be needed to bring stability to this rotation.
I am glad that the Dodgers do not have to play the Cubs anymore during the regular season, as each game has been pretty crazy, and they seem to be a thorn in the side of the Dodgers. Baseball has a funny way, though, of letting your thorn meet up with you in the postseason, and that could be the case come October, and by then, the pitching should be playing up to its potential to match the offense, and maybe it will be a different story. Of course, that is all hypothetical as the NL Central is wide open and the Cubs may falter out of the race by then, who knows? I do not expect our boys in blue to miss the postseason, but it does not take the sting out of losses like the last two nights. An off day tomorrow will bring a much-needed reset for the team, and then getting to open a homestand by playing the Pittsburgh Pirates should give the team confidence, as they should take at least two from the Pirates, if not sweep them. Again, baseball is crazy, and crazy things always seem to happen, so let’s hope that, statistically and talent-wise, the Dodgers are better than the Pirates and should flex their muscle against them. After that comes the Marlins, so this homestand can be one where the team finds its winning ways again and starts to climb back up the standings to retake first place, and maybe even put some distance between the Padres. It is something we can all hope for. Good riddance, Chicago, and Wrigley Field, and welcome back home to Dodger Stadium. As they say in New Orleans, let the good times roll. Have a great night, everyone, and keep bleeding blue.
Clay Gregory
Growing up and living in Oklahoma I fell in love with the game of baseball from an early age from playing T ball through High School. I have always had an admiration for the Boys in Blue with how the Dodger Way is the right way to play the game. Tommy Lasorda is my favorite manager of all time and my all-time favorite players are Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax, Pedro Guerrero, Mike Piazza and Clayton Kershaw. I am enamored with Dodgers history from the Brooklyn days when they were Dem Bums to the days of Fernandomania to Mannywood and beyond. Vin Scully will always be the best announcer the game has ever seen and it will always be time for Dodger baseball. I am married to the love of my life Melissa who gave me the inspiration to actually take on this crazy idea of writing about the Dodgers and without her support I would not be able to do what I love. My cousin Zach Chase and uncle John Chase for being a Dodger encyclopedia and sharing their knowledge with me. I will bring my perspective and love for the team to readers and I will most likely have spelling errors from time to time but I promise ill do my best on it. I want to bring you a unique perspective on your favorite team and also throw some humor along the way. I love to talk about baseball with anybody who will listen and I look forward to the Dodgers going back-to-back in their quest for another World Series Championship. Dodger Blue through and through.
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The pitching is really bad not the hitting. Plus dave pull a pitcher who is doing well then put a no body in