Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal and Chase Utley provided the offense for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Alex Wood led from the mound in the club’s shutout win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Wood held the Cubs without a run over five innings, allowed two hits, issued one walk and recorded eight strikeouts. Wood extended his scoreless streak to 25.1 innings, which is the longest such streak in the Majors.
He was provided with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, on Chase Utley’s leadoff home run against Jake Arrieta. The home run was Utley’s second in as many games.
Then in the fourth inning, Grandal lined a double to the wall in left-center field, scoring Corey Seager from first base to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. Arrieta later surrendered a two-run home run to Gonzalez on a 3-1 pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
The home run was Gonzalez’s first since Sept. 28, 2016, against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The veteran first baseman expects his production at the plate to increase now that he’s overcome back and forearm trouble that required a stint on the disabled list.
As for Wood, he improved to 6-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He finished the night one inning shy of being considered a qualified pitcher for league-leading statistics. Wood otherwise sits atop the National League in ERA.
