The Chicago Cubs received their 2016 World Series rings on Wednesday night, which delayed first pitch at Wrigley Field by 10 minutes. Once play began, the Los Angeles Dodgers struck quickly, though John Lackey was simultaneously dominant.
Andrew Toles led off the first inning with a home run, which was followed by a Corey Seager double. Lackey voiced his displeasure with home plate umpire Greg Gibson during both at-bats.
Logan Forsythe worked a walk to give the Dodgers two on with nobody out, but Lackey bounced back to strike out Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal.
Joc Pederson kept the inning alive by working a walk to load the bases. That didn’t amount to anything, however, as Chase Utley looked at three pitches and was called out on strikes.
While Lackey only allowed one run, he threw 32 pitches in the first inning, which was his highest total in an opening frame since 2009.
Brandon McCarthy struck out Kyle Schwarber to start the bottom of the first, then induced Anthony Rizzo into an inning-ending double play after walking Kris Bryant. Yasiel Puig led off the second inning with a base hit, and Toles later singled with one out.
But Lackey worked out of trouble by striking out Seager and getting Forsythe to pop-out. Ben Zobrist’s leadoff single in the bottom of the second was erased when Addison Russell grounded into a double play. McCarthy then retired Jason Heyward to face the minimum through two scoreless innings.
Lackey struck out Gonzalez and Grandal, each for the second time in the game, as he retired the side in order in the third. McCarthy worked through a bit of the jam in the bottom half of the inning, and again in the fourth when he started the Dodgers third double play of the game.
Heyward singled to open the fifth, giving the Cubs their fourth leadoff hit of the game to that point. Willson Contreras nearly erased the Dodgers’ lead but the wind kept his deep fly ball to left field in the ballpark. Heyward stole second base with one out, where he was stranded.
Lackey collected his 10th strikeout and set the Dodgers down in order in the sixth to give him seven consecutive batters retired. McCarthy was again the beneficiary of the wind blowing in, as Rizzo’s drive to deep center field was caught in front of the warning track.
The Dodgers were forced to challenge the call, but Bryant was caught stealing to end the inning. McCarthy joined Clayton Kershaw as the only starters to reach the sixth inning this season. Through Wednesday, each had done so and completed a minimum of six frames in both of their outings.
Ross Stripling backed McCarthy’s effort by bookending a 1-2-3 seventh inning with strikeouts. The Dodgers managed to load the bases on Mike Montgomery in the eighth, only for pinch-hitter Justin Turner to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Stripling faced a bit of trouble in the bottom of the eighth because Seager’s throw after fielding a routine grounder was wide and high of the bag and skipped off Gonzalez’s glove. But Stripling struck out Jon Jay, then was replaced by Luis Avilan, who struck out Kyle Schwarber to end the inning.
Utley walked to start the ninth and scored from first base on a strikeout with two outs, extending the Dodgers lead to 2-0. After fielding a pitch in the dirt, Contreras throw to first base to complete the strikeout got by Rizzo. Hector Rendon then was unable to field the throw home.
Kenley Jansen atoned for allowing Monday’s walk-off single by working around a Rizzo one-out single to earn a save.
