The Los Angeles Dodgers saw their four-game winning streak snapped in what was a rematch of the 2017 National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs, losing 9-5 at Sloan Park.
Former Dodger Yu Darvish took the mound for his Cubs debut and immediately walked Chris Taylor to begin the contest. Taylor later scored as he advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and then came home on another wild pitch. The right-hander limited the damage from there and struck out the side to end the first inning.
Darvish exited his outing after a scoreless inning in the second, finishing with four strikeouts and two walks without allowing a hit.
Wilmer Font got the nod for the Dodgers, in what’s expected to be his final start of the spring as he transitions to a relief role.
After retiring Ben Zobrist to begin the bottom half of the first inning, the Cubs’ offense made their presence felt. Kris Bryant singled, followed by an Anthony Rizzo walk and Willson Contreras single to load the bases. Addison Russell cashed in on the scoring opportunity with a two-run single to make it 2-1, Cubs.
Javier Baez then cleared the bases with a two-run double before Albert Almora Jr. drove him in with his first home run of the spring — increasing Chicago’s lead to six. Font recorded just two outs and departed in favor of Justin DeFratus, who struck out Zobrist to end the inning.
Font gave up six hits and six runs in the rough outing, which doesn’t bode well for him as he is fighting for a spot on the big league roster.
Another former Dodger, Brandon Morrow, took the mound for the Cubs in the fourth inning and yielded a leadoff single to Turner before setting down Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig in order. With a runner on first and two outs, Logan Forsythe lined a double to center field. A throwing error by Baez permitted Turner to score the Dodgers’ second run of the day.
Steve Cishek relieved Morrow in the fifth inning and got into some early trouble. A leadoff walk to Donovan Solano paved the way for a two-run home run by Edwin Rios to cut the Cubs’ lead to 6-4.
Three consecutive scoreless innings from DeFratus, Pedro Baez and J.T. Chargois kept the score close enough where the Dodgers could chip away at the deficit.
Yimi Garcia entered the game in the fifth inning and allowed a pair of runs on a fielder’s choice and RBI-single by Peter Bourjos though, extending the Cubs lead to 8-4.
Contrary to games over the past week, the Dodgers offense was nowhere to be found in the latter part of the game other than an inside-the-park home run by Matt Beaty in the ninth, resulting in the 9-5 loss.
