Dodgers comeback and beat Cubs 11-9

The Dodgers overcame their largest deficit of the season to win 11-8 and sweep the four-game series against the Cubs. The Cubs took a 5-0 lead after their P.J. Higgins hit a grand slam in the first inning. After the Dodgers scored three times in the bottom of the first, the Cubs made it a five-run lead again after David Bote hit a three-run homer in the third.

In the bottom of the third, after a Freddie Freeman double led to a run, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out. A two-out walk to Gavin Lux made it 8-5 and then a key throwing error on Mookie Bett’s grounder led to two runs scoring and put the go-ahead run at second base.

Trea Turner punched a two-run single to left to give the Dodgers an improbable 9-8 lead. And this will still the bottom of the third.

Starting in the fourth inning, Yency Almonte, Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia each had a scoreless appearance. Almonte and Ferguson each pitched an inning and Vesia went 1⅔ innings.

David Price finished up the seventh inning but then gave up a solo home run to Nelson Velázquez to start the eighth inning. After a double and a walk, Brusder Graterol made his first appearance since leaving the game with a cramp a few days ago.

Graterol got a fielder’s choice ground out and then a snappy double-play grounder to end the Cubs threat.

Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run in the sixth and drove in Gavin Lux with a run-scoring single in the seventh to give the Dodgers a little more cushion in this game.

Brusdar Graterol completed his fourth two inning appearance this season with a 1-2-2 innings. Graterol would record his third save.

Phil Bickford would get a win on his birthday despite giving up a three-run homer in the third inning.

The Dodger comeback picked up a poor start by Julio Urías. He gave up five runs after facing just six batters. Urías did give the Dodgers another inning when he went out and kept the Cubs off the scoreboard in the second inning.

Drew Smyly was activated off the 15-day IL before the game and he was fortunate to escape the first inning himself. Smyly gave up three runs and the Dodgers had the tying run at the plate when a generous third-strike call sent Trayce Thompson down for the third out.

The best thing for both starting pitchers was that they were able to get out of the games without taking the loss and they had plenty of time to think about their games because the eight and a half-inning game took three hours and 59 minutes to complete.

The Dodgers enter their final five games before the All-Star break with an 8-game lead over the Padres and the best record in the National League. They travel to their longtime foe, the St. Louis Cardinals and then finish up with the Freeway Series in Anaheim this weekend.

It will be fun to see what they do this week with this momentum from this home stand.

Other notes

• The Dodgers had not swept a home four-game series against the Cubs since July 15-18, 1965. This sweep meant the Dodgers swept a season series against the Cubs for the first time in franchise history. It should be noted that it was in 2001 when the Dodgers and Cubs have played a single home and home series against each other.
• The Dodgers matched two other 10-1 records on one home stand in 1976 and 1980.
• The Dodgers finished this 20 games in 20 day stretch with a 16-4 record.
• This was the first win in 2022 for a team whose starting pitcher went two innings or less and gave up five runs. Teams were 0-11 in that situation so far in 2022.
• Prior to this game, the Dodgers largest deficit before winning was four runs against the Phillies on Sunday May 15, 2022

Sunday particulars

Home runs: P.J. Higgins (4), David Bote (1), Freddie Freeman (11), Nelson Velázquez (2)

WP — Phil Bickford (1-1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

LP — Mark Leiter Jr. (2-4): ⅓ IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 strikeout

Sv — Brusdar Graterol (3): 2 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers get their first off-day in three weeks on Monday as they will travel to St. Louis for a short road trip. The Dodgers begin their three-game series against the Cardinals with Mitch White going against Matthew Liberatore. First pitch is set for 4:45 p.m. PDT and it will be on SportsNet LA and TBS (out-of-local-markets).