The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to four games on Monday night, defeating the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, in the opener of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
Coming off a game in which he hit two of the team’s seven home runs, Kiké Hernandez picked up where he left off as he launched a solo shot off of Cubs starter Duane Underwood Jr. in the bottom of the second inning to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.
Hernandez has been on a tear in the month of June, hitting six of his 13 home runs on the season. The Dodgers as a whole have lived by the long ball in the month, and after Monday’s game, they are just six away from breaking the franchise record of 53 home runs in a single month.
The Dodgers’ second run of the night, which proved to be a valuable one, came on a pinch-hit home run off the bat of Chris Taylor in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Taylor hasn’t been in the starting lineup for four straight games now as he deals with hamstring tightness, but it didn’t appear to affect him when he was jogging around the bases after hitting one over the center field fence.
The reason Taylor’s home run loomed so large was because closer Kenley Jansen gave up a run in the ninth inning before converting his 20th save of the season.
That was the first and only run the Cubs scored on the game as Kenta Maeda turned in one of his best outings of the season. He gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out nine in seven shutout innings, earning his fifth win of the season.
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