The Chicago Cubs will look to continue to flex their offensive muscle on Wednesday night when they conclude their season series against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cubs bolted to a five-run first inning before rallying for an 11-10 victory over the Dodgers in 10 innings on Tuesday. The win in the opener of an abbreviated two-game set tied the season series at three wins apiece.
Kyle Tucker hit a two-run homer for Chicago in the eighth inning, Miguel Amaya launched a solo shot with two outs in the ninth, and Ian Happ capped a four-hit performance with an RBI single in the 10th for the victory.
“It’s a really good team win. That was really awesome,” Happ told Marquee Sports Network.
Chicago, which banged out 17 hits on Tuesday, has 60 runs over its past nine games (6-3) and a league-best 156 for the season.
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a three-run homer as part of his three-hit performance in the series opener. Three of his four homers this season have come at the expense of Los Angeles.
Crow-Armstrong is 14-for-32 with four homers and eight RBIs with nine runs in his past eight games.
While the Cubs had reason to celebrate, the Dodgers were left to lament squandering an early three-run lead in the first inning and a three-run advantage in the eighth.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts wasn’t interested in hearing about the windy conditions that arguably played a role in six balls going out of the ballpark.
“I guess so. But we still had a chance to win it,” he said. “The conditions were the same (for both teams). Yeah, there were some balls that were hit that flew out. That’s baseball, and we had the same opportunities. We were one out away (in the ninth). We just couldn’t put them away.”
Tommy Edman hit a three-run shot in the first inning, boosting his season homer total to eight — with three coming against the Cubs. Edman also hit a three-run homer off left-hander Matthew Boyd (1-2, 2.01 ERA), Wednesday’s scheduled starter for the Cubs, during their most recent encounter on April 11.
Boyd answered consecutive scoreless outings by losing each of his past two trips to the mound. He allowed Edman’s blast to account for all of the damage over his six-inning stint in that 3-0 setback on April 11 before permitting two runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on April 16.
Boyd, 34, is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Dodgers.
On Monday, Chicago added to its beleaguered bullpen by acquiring left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the Seattle Mariners. Pomeranz was not available to pitch in Tuesday’s game.
“A number of our leverage guys have thrown really well. I think ultimately the goal is to get to the point where eight guys in the bullpen are throwing well. We haven’t gotten to that point yet,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “We’ve given up whatever the next level of crooked numbers are a number of times. And we have to solve that issue and get to a place where we can feel like everyone down there can throw up zeros.”
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