Dodgers survive Cubs’ five-run 1st inning, extend winning streak and division lead

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Sunday’s finale against the Chicago Cubs with their eyes on a four-game sweep of one of the National League’s worst teams. With a six-game winning streak in tow and starting pitcher Julio Urias on the mound, fans surely didn’t imagine they would extend that mark after Urias surrendered five runs to the Cubs in the opening frame, including a grand slam to catcher PJ Higgins.

The Dodgers not only overcame Urias’ turbulent start, but two separate five-run deficits on Sunday, scoring an 11-9 marathon-victory to complete a four-game sweep of Chicago and extend the team’s winning streak to seven.

“I had a brief conversation with Julio and he said, ‘We’re gonna come back and win this game,’” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There are times in a year when you feel [a 5-0 deficit] is insurmountable, but I think today, the way we answered quickly, was a real sign we weren’t going to be denied.”

The Dodgers responded to the Cubs’ five-run 1st inning with three runs of their own, thanks to RBI hits from Will Smith, Justin Turner, and a sacrifice fly from Max Muncy.

After two innings, Urias departed, giving way to reliever Phil Bickford in the 3rd inning. Like Urias, Bickford was greeted rudely by a Cubs lineup that ranks in the middle of the pack in total runs scored this season. 

With two men on and two outs in the inning, Cubs first baseman David Bote took Bickford’s 1-1 pitch into the first row of the left-field stands to re-extend the Cubs’ lead to five. It wouldn’t last long.

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Just as they did in the 1st inning, the Dodgers not only erased their second five-run deficit of the game, but took their first lead, beneficiaries of a bases-loaded walk to Trayce Thompson, a two-run throwing error by Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom, and an RBI single from Trea Turner.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman had four hits and two RBI in the game, including his 11th home run of the season to give the Dodgers a 10-8 lead in the 6th inning.

“You get down 5-0, you just want to come back and make a game of it,” Freeman said. “For the offense to do that and grind it all the way to the end, that’s what special teams do.”

The win capped a 10-1 homestand, the first for the Dodgers since 1980, and in the process, extended the team’s National League West Division lead over the second-place San Diego Padres to eight games.

The Dodgers have a travel day Monday as they open a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday before concluding the first half of the season with the second edition of the Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend.

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