Julio Urias stopped a streak of the Los Angeles Dodgers surrendering a home run in the first inning at a franchise-record five consecutive games, and Cody Bellinger delivered their first walk-off win of the season in a thrilling 3-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs.
Urias opened the game by retiring six batters in a row before Jason Heyward’s leadoff single in the third inning. A walk followed, but Urias got through the inning with the Dodgers’ 2-0 lead still intact.
That changed in the fourth when Anthony Rizzo ambushed the first pitch he saw for a leadoff home run. Doubles by Heyward and pinch-hitter Ian Happ led to the Cubs pulling even in the fifth inning.
Urias finished with a career-high 12 strikeouts over 5.1 innings, pitching with the aggression Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was hopeful to see.
BALLGAME, BELLI. pic.twitter.com/4pRAvQ6a77
— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2021
A career high 12 Ks tonight? Julio was absolutely dominant. pic.twitter.com/AF7Z72sl8g
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 27, 2021
The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when Bellinger connected on a solo home run with two outs. It was his second at-bat of the game as Bellinger entered off the bench in the seventh inning as part of a double switch.
The walk-off home run was the third of Bellinger’s career. Given his limited playing time so far this season, Bellinger said he wasn’t quite sure if the ball would have enough carry despite being confident in the swing put on it.
Dodgers started early
After falling into first-inning deficits in each of their past five games, it was the Dodgers who struck in the opening frame.
Mookie Betts led off with a double and quickly scored as Max Muncy drove his own extra-base hit off the wall in center field. Justin Turner made it a string of hits by beating the shift with an opposite-field RBI single.
However, L.A. went quiet from there and remained stuck on the two runs until Bellinger’s heroics despite collecting eight hits and two walks against Cubs starter Alec Mills.
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