The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t have a baserunner or hit until the fourth inning, but the rallied with two outs and went on for a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park.
Adbert Alzolay was dominant through three perfect innings as he struck out five of the nine batters faced during that span. Alzolay then retired Mookie Betts and Corey Seager in the fourth inning, only to lose a battle with Justin Turner and walk him on the eighth pitch of the plate appearance.
The Cubs then failed to locate a foul ball off the third-base line, and Cody Bellinger took advantage by pulling a double inside first base for the Dodgers’ first hit. That knocked Alzolay out of the game and Brendon Little allowed a two-run single to Will Smith before getting out of the inning.
Smith provided more offense in the sixth inning on a fly ball that dropped in right field for an RBI single because Jason Heyward was playing deep. Seager’s RBI groundout with the bases loaded in the seventh provided the Dodgers with additional insurance, and Matt Beaty hit a solo home run in the ninth inning.
While L.A. was padding their lead throughout the game, Dustin May and the pitching staff did their part to uphold it. Chicago did cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth inning when a walk was later followed by a wild pitch and Seager throwing error.
The Cubs threatened again in the fifth behind back-to-back base hits from David Bote and Matt Duffy. May worked himself out of the small jam by striking out Cameron Maybin and retiring Ian Happ.
That wound up being it for May, as he allowed just the one run and had six strikeouts over five innings. He threw 79 pitches and further stated a case to be included in the Opening Day starting rotation.
Kenley Jansen and Corey Knebel combined to strike out three batters in the sixth inning, and Scott Alexander followed them by working around an error to toss a scoreless seventh. Alex Vesia allowed an RBI double in the eighth inning but otherwise struck out three batters.
Non-roster invitee James Pazos finished the game out with a clean ninth.
Next for Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw starts Friday against the Oakland Athletics in the Dodgers’ final night game of Cactus League play. Kershaw’s last time pitching came in a “B” game at Camelback Ranch.
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