Cubs completely derail the Dodgers

The Dodgers couldn’t get ahead of the Cubs and it wasn’t pretty. They lost the series opener with a score of 7-2.

Things got off on the wrong foot in the top of the 1st, when the Dodgers went down in order without putting up any sort of fight.

The rough start continued through to the bottom half of the inning, where the Cubs would rally with Kenta Maeda on the mound. After allowing a base hit and two walks to load the bases, Maeda gave up a two-out double to Willson Contreras, making the score 3-0. Daniel Descalso immediately followed Contreras’s double with one of his own to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead. In addition to putting up four runs in the first, the Cubs drove Maeda’s pitch count up to 37 pitches.

The Cubbies would continue to score in the 2nd, this time with a two-run blast hit by Anthony Rizzo. The next two batters hit back-to-back singles to start a rally (one of these being Javier Baez’s trip out of the baseline), but Kenta struck out the next two to end the inning.

The Dodgers got one run on the board in the third inning with Justin Turner doubling to drive Austin Barnes in to score and putting the end to the shutout. The Dodgers would only score one more run in the rest of the game, coming from a short rally in the seventh inning. Their attempt to make a comeback came in the eighth inning, where the bases were full of blue with just one out, but it didn’t amount to anything.

Julio Urías made an appearance out of the bullpen - his first of many this season. His outing was outstanding, throwing a scoreless fifth and sixth innings and striking out four while he was at it.

José Quintana, the Cubs’ starting pitcher, was the key to their success. In total, he threw seven innings and held the Dodgers to just two runs off of four hits and two walks. He sat down seven batters in his third win of the season.

You can find the full boxscore here.

Look ahead

The Dodgers try to put this loss behind them on Wednesday, sending the young Walker Buehler to the mound to face veteran pitcher, Cole Hamels. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. PDT.