LOS ANGELES DODGERSDAILY CLIPS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018

MLB.COM

Dodgers tripped up in 10th, split twin bill

By Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- All the way around on Tuesday, the Dodgers split.

They won the doubleheader opener over the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the ninth inning, then lost the nightcap in the bottom of the 10th, 2-1, on a walk-off. Kenta Maeda in his second start off the disabled list couldn't get out of the fourth inning in the day game, while Rich Hill in his first start off the DL was superb in the nightcap.

The bullpen pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings for the win and the save in Game 1, but it coughed up a lead and was tagged with the loss in Game 2, when Kris Bryant tripled off Brock Stewart and was singled home by Albert Almora Jr. Stewart was in his sixth callup of the season, as the 26th man allowed for a twin bill.

While Maeda lacked command in his second start off the disabled list and didn't make it out of the fourth inning in the opener, Hill allowed only three hits for six innings with six strikeouts in his first real start since May 13. His May 19 start lasted two pitches because of chronic blister problems, but he made 90 pitches this time with no issues.

"He was outstanding tonight," said manager Dave Roberts. "He's worked through some things with [pitching coach Rick] Honeycutt. The fastball, curveball command was on point. You hope to get something like that, but you never know first start off a rehab."

Five days after a four-inning Minor League rehab start, Hill retired 11 consecutive batters at one point and pitched out of jams in the second and sixth innings. Plagued for three seasons by blister problems, Hill discovered a mechanical flaw during his latest rehab -- which he fixed by staying on the heel of his left foot instead of his toe as he rocks into motion.

"The changes we made, made a huge difference," Hill said. "Just making sure my weight is going through my heel. When I don't, I tend to drift. If you want to talk about silver linings, that's a really good way to look at it. I took the time to see how I could clean things up mechanically to get back to where I was the last three years. I do look at it that way."

Hill was hooked up in a scoreless duel with Cubs starter Mike Montgomery until the top of the sixth inning, when Cody Bellinger walked on a full count with one out, stole second and was singled home by Austin Barnes with two outs, his first RBI since May 3.

Hill finished his night pitching out of a two-out jam with runners on the corners in the sixth by striking out Willson Contreras.

Erik Goeddel took over and two batters later his streak of 13 consecutive scoreless appearances was smashed by Kyle Schwarber's solo home run that tied the game.

The Dodgers' offense, which pulled out Game 1 on Kyle Farmer's two-out, two-run double in the ninth, went 4-for-29 with runners in scoring position on the day, stranding 24 total. They had the bases loaded with no outs in the second inning and didn't score, then bases loaded in the 10th inning with two outs and didn't score.

"We just couldn't get the big hit. We didn't get it done tonight," Roberts said.

The manager said he went with Stewart in the 10th having used every other reliever earlier in the doubleheader.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Yasiel Puig's 10th-inning line drive to the right-center gap wasn't the hardest-hit ball of the game (94.5 mph, according to Statcast™), but the leaping catch made by Cubs right fielder Ben Zobrist with one out and a runner on first loomed even larger when Bellinger followed with a single that sent Justin Turner to third base. Logan Forsythe walked to load the bases, but Rob Zastryzny got Yasmani Grandal to fly out and end the threat.

SOUND SMART

Forsythe had his first three-hit game of the year and ninth career game with two doubles. He also walked.

HE SAID IT

"I thought I pushed him there to get him through six, but with the earlier games, the arms available are obviously at a premium." -- Roberts, on letting Hill go six innings in his return

UP NEXT

In the series finale on Wednesday, Ross Stripling opposes Cubs lefty Jon Lester in an 11:20 a.m. PT start. The Dodgers' current ace continues his unexpected All-Star campaign, bringing a six-game winning streak to the mound. Stripling has pitched into the seventh inning in his last two starts and will be working on regular rest.

Dodgers stun Cubs with G1 rally after ejections

By Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- Three Dodgers were ejected, the starting pitcher didn't get out of the fourth inning and the Dodgers were down to their last strike.

But Wrigley Field is where Los Angeles clinched the pennant last year, and the mojo carried over to Tuesday afternoon, as pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer's clutch two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth inning gave the Dodgers a 4-3 comeback win over the Cubs in the early game of a makeup split doubleheader.

The Dodgers have won 22 of their past 29 and are just 1 1/2 games behind the first-place D-backs. Edward Paredes retired the only batter he faced to get the win and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

Farmer pulled a 2-2 slider from lefty Justin Wilson, who was given the ball because Cubs closer and former Dodger Brandon Morrow, was unavailable due to a tight back. Farmer doubled in Austin Barnes, who led off the ninth with a walk while pinch-hitting for Joc Pederson -- who opened the game with a homer -- and Justin Turner, who singled.

"I thought he'd come in. I was surprised he didn't," Farmer said after not facing Morrow.

Farmer was batting in the fifth spot in the order, which originally was held by Matt Kemp, until Kemp was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing strikes with plate umpire Tripp Gibson. Almost immediately after tossing Kemp, Gibson ejected manager Dave Roberts, and he made it a hat trick in the ninth inning by banishing Yasmani Grandal for the same offense after Grandal struck out for the fourth time. Then Farmer came up.

Kemp has been ejected three times this year and 17 times in his career. He said he deserved to be ejected for what he said to Gibson, but he tried to turn it into a positive.

"I shouldn't have gotten kicked out in that situation right there, early in the game. My spot came up twice," said Kemp. "But if it wasn't for me getting kicked out, Farmer wouldn't have come up and hit that double, so everything worked out."

Roberts explained his ejection.

"I just thought, it seemed to me, there were more pitches that went their way than our way," said Roberts. "I thought [a ball to Turner] was off the plate. Matt's ball was down, I could see it from the side. I want to protect the player and I just didn't agree with those calls. He did what he's supposed to do."

That said, Roberts also praised the resilience of his club, from Chris Taylor getting hit by a pitch on the helmet and staying in to triple (his seventh), to Turner scoring from first on the double by Farmer, who was the last position player on the bench.

"It says a lot about our guys," Roberts said.

Farmer has played in only 32 games this season while shuttling back and forth to Triple-A Oklahoma City, but this was his third game-winning hit, down the opposite foul line -- similar to the one he delivered against the Giants last year in his Major League debut.

"He's got a good pulse," said Roberts. "He's had some big hits for us, big spots. And you can see guys that don't expand and have a way of locking it in."

Wilson fell behind Farmer, 2-0.

"Then he blew one by me pretty good," said Farmer, who is 6-for-16 as a pinch-hitter this year. "Then I fouled a ball and he threw me a slider down and in, and I put a bat on it, luckily."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Hudson clamps down: After Dodgers reliever Adam Liberatore walked the first two Cubs batting in the fifth inning, acting manager Bob Geren brought in Daniel Hudson, who pitched around a wild pitch to strike out Chris Gimenez and pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella before retiring Kris Bryant on a flyout, stranding two runners in scoring position.

SOUND SMART

The Dodgers have trailed after the eighth inning in 31 games this season. This was only the second time in those situations that they've rallied to win.

HE SAID IT

"If you're not commanding your fastball, you're going to be in trouble. I just didn't think he had it today. From everything I get from Kenta Maeda and the training staff, physically, he's fine. I'd say the inconsistency is from not pitching."-- Roberts, on whether Maeda, who walked a career-high five in 3 2/3 innings, is not fully healed from a strained right hip

UP NEXT

Rich Hill will be activated for his first start since May 19 in Game 2 of a split doubleheader vs. the Cubs. Hill departed that last outing vs. the Nationals after just two pitches due to a blister. The southpaw will be opposed by Mike Montgomery, with first pitch set for 5:05 p.m. PT at Wrigley Field.

Kershaw set for rehab start prior to return - Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- Clayton Kershaw lost the debate and will make a rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday before returning to the Dodgers' rotation.

After an impressive three-inning simulated game on Monday, Kershaw was hoping to return Saturday for the Dodgers against the Mets.

"He made his case, as he always does," said manager Dave Roberts. "We're putting him in the best chance for success and health. You consider all the factors, got a lot of thoughts and opinions by people more qualified than I am, and you make a decision."

Roberts said Kershaw will throw four innings or 60 pitches for OKC. A Saturday start means Kershaw would return to the Dodgers no sooner than next Thursday's day game against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium.

The club believes Kershaw will need only one rehab start.

Kershaw has pitched in one MLB game since May 1. He went on the disabled list after that game with left biceps tendinitis. He came back for one start May 31, then went back on the DL with a lower back strain.

• The Dodgers summoned Brock Stewart to Chicago as the 26th man for the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

Hill sharp in return from DL; Valera optioned

By Ken Gurnick

CHICAGO -- The Dodgers activated Rich Hill off the 10-day disabled list to start the nightcap of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Cubs, recalled right-hander Brock Stewart as the allowed 26th player and optioned infielder Breyvic Valera to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Hill turned in a scoreless start, working six innings and allowing three hits, two walks and recording six strikeouts. He tossed 90 pitches (65 strikes) and left the game with a one-run lead before the Cubs rallied for a 2-1 walk-off victory in the 10th inning.

The 38-year-old lefty has spent a pair of three-week stints on the disabled list with blister issues on the middle finger of his left hand. His most recent start was May 19 in Washington, and it lasted only two pitches.

Hill made a four-inning rehab start for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, striking out 10. He said he was excited about a mechanical adjustment he had made in his delivery.

Stewart was recalled for the sixth time this season.

He went from jobless to powering LA's offense

By Mike Petriello

"When you're sitting there at home, you realize you have to make a change," recalled Max Muncy about being without a job last spring, "because what you're doing before wasn't really working."

A little more than a year ago, Muncy didn't have a place in the baseball world. After parts of five years in Oakland's system, the A's, who had already outrighted him off the 40-man roster in January, released him just before Opening Day. Muncy remained unemployed for nearly a month, eventually scoring a Triple-A gig with the Dodgers in late April. He hit well for Oklahoma City (.309/.414/.491), but he did not receive a September callup.

It's safe to say that things have changed. Muncy (.263/.386/.599) is regularly hitting second for a surging Dodgers lineup, one that's been the National League's best since May 15. He leads the team with 13 homers, and if he had enough plate appearances to qualify, he'd have baseball's sixth-best slugging percentage. Muncy is even become something of a fan favorite, scoring his own T-shirt and theme song based on an on-air back-and-forth between the team's broadcaster, Joe Davis, and organist, Dieter Ruehle.

This has become something of a recent theme for the Dodgers, picking up essentially free talent and finding or creating stars out of them, most notably with Justin Turner and Chris Taylor. It's easy to think that Muncy is simply the next in line, that a retooled swing pushed by a hitting guru helped get the ball off the ground and unlock the talent within.

It's true that there's some evidence of swing changes, in that perhaps Muncy is bending more, maybe using a slightly more noticeable leg kick. He admitted as such, saying that "when I got released last Spring Training, in those couple of weeks I didn't have a job, I kind of made a lot of mechanical adjustments."

That might be how this story ends, but it's not how it begins. Muncy didn't go to a fancy swing coach. He went to his dad -- a geologist.

"He knows my swing better than anybody," said Muncy when asked about his father. "So [it was] kind of me and him working on it together."

When Muncy was between teams last year, his father threw to him "almost every single day."

But for all the talk of mechanical changes, the word that Muncy keeps coming back to is "confidence."

"When I was with Oakland," said Muncy on Saturday, "I was laying off the bad pitches, but … because I had lost confidence in myself, I wasn't able to get my barrel to the ball like I should, like I am now. I wasn't chasing bad pitches when I was over there, I just wasn't squaring up the pitches I was supposed to be squaring up, whereas now, I'm squaring those pitches up -- and that's where all the difference is coming from."

Muncy made it clear he doesn't pay much attention to advanced metrics, but that doesn't mean we can't use them to tell his story. He's not wrong about "laying off the bad pitches," because that's always been a strength of his.

In 2015, only 35 hitters (of 409) chased fewer non-strikes than Muncy did.

In 2016, only seven hitters (of 413) chased fewer non-strikes than Muncy did.

In 2017, only three Triple-A hitters with as many plate appearances had a higher walk rate.

Thus far in 2018, only five hitters (of 289) have chased fewer non-strikes than Muncy, and we're talking names like Joey Votto, Joe Mauer and Mookie Betts. (Also, Cesar Hernandez and Russell Martin.)

So we know that Muncy has had elite plate discipline, an incredibly valuable skill that's difficult to teach. Then again, he had that with the A's, too, and he hit all of .195/.290/.321 in 245 plate appearances over two seasons. It didn't seem to matter. What changed?

"When I got picked up by the Dodgers, and I was in Triple-A, that was when I was able to start making adjustments to my mental approach at the plate, my aggressiveness, a bunch of little tweaks in that area," said Muncy.

"In a sense, my swing was still the same, but I was in a better position to start it. The swing itself, nothing had really changed in that, it's just that I was able to get myself into a better position to fire the bat quickly, and a lot of that had to do with being mentally more aggressive. Also, I was able to figure out that I could be more aggressive, mentally, but still lay off pitches that I didn't want to swing at, and when that kind of clicked for me last year, that's when things really started taking off."

Muncy hasn't actually gone after more balls in the strike zone, swinging at 54.7 percent of strikes this year after swinging at 58.1 percent of in-zone pitches in his time with the A's. He's just found far, far more production on them.

Muncy's performance on in-zone pitches2018: .716 slugging, 55.2 percent hard-hit rate2015-16: .394 slugging, 33.3 percent hard-hit rate

That .716 slugging on in-zone pitches is sixth best of those who have seen 100 such pitches. Looking at Muncy's combo of power and patience overall this year, the company he's keeping is nearly unbelievable.

Muncy has actually struck out more often in 2018, up to 25.3 percent with the Dodgers after whiffing 22.3 percent of the time with the A's. While no hitter wants to strike out more, it's a good reminder that you'd happily accept more strikeouts when it comes with this much added power.

No one expects Muncy to be a true-talent Top 10 hitter all year long, but it's that combination of power and patience that gives the Dodgers confidence that this isn't just a small-sample fluke. That's according to the Statcast™ metric Expected wOBA, which looks at quality of contact (launch angle, exit velocity) and amount of contact (strikeouts, walks) to output a number similar to OBP that's free of defense or ballpark factors.

There are currently 258 hitters with 150 plate appearances. Muncy is sixth, right there with some of the game's biggest monsters.

Highest Expected wOBA in 2018.495 -- Mookie Betts.474 -- Mike Trout.454 -- J.D. Martinez.441 -- Freddie Freeman.440 -- Joey Votto.437 -- Max Muncy.425 -- Brandon Belt.416 -- Jose Martinez

.417 -- Nelson Cruz

.416 -- Robinson Cano

This doesn't guarantee that Muncy will keep this up. It just shows he hasn't faked his way to this point. He's legitimately been that good.

Even the mechanical changes that Muncy did make weren't exactly new, at least not in the way they were for Turner or Taylor. Muncy's best season in Oakland's system was back in 2013, when he hit .273/.381/.476 with 25 homers between Class A Stockton and Double-A Midland. He was an All-Star in both '13 and '14.

"I kind of went back ... the physical changes I'd made in the swing, mechanically, that was something I'd worked with the hitting coach in Triple-A last year, Shawn Wooten. He was able to pull up some film from [2013], and we kind of looked at the differences between that year and how I was in Oakland. Going back to how I was that year, 2013, that was kind of what I was thinking I was wanting to do in the first place when I was working on the changes. When he showed me the film of it, that's when I realized what I needed to be doing."

Wooten is no longer with the Dodgers, but he was credited with helping Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger improve. He might have had some part in Muncy's success, too.

That brings us back to confidence.

"From Day 1 [in Triple-A in 2017], it's, 'All right, let's start implementing the changes I'd made,'" Muncy said. "At first, it started off as just excitement to be playing, then after getting a couple hits here and there, starting to get back on my feet, realizing this works a little better than what I used to be doing, then confidence-wise, it just started building from there. It was almost like a snowball effect.

"The more hits I got the more confident I felt in the changes I'd made, and then before I knew it, it felt natural, and it was kind of just, from that point on, I'd regained all the mental confidence I'd had."

Muncy is now a relied-upon run producer for a perennial contender looking for their sixth straight division title. One imagines confidence is no longer an issue.

LA TIMES

Dodgers settle for split in doubleheader with Cubs

By Andy McCullough

Marooned inside a cramped office, barred from returning to the dugout, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts fixed his eyes on a television for the final inning of one of the most tumultuous games of the season.

As Kyle Farmer stepped into the batter’s box against Chicago Cubs reliever Justin Wilson, Yasmani Grandal huffed up the steps into the clubhouse. He had just been ejected from the game by umpire Tripp Gibson. Four innings earlier, Gibson had thrown out Roberts and Matt Kemp. Farmer was at the plate only because Kemp’s spot in the batting order had come up.

“If it wasn’t for me getting kicked out,” Kemp said, “Farmer wouldn’t have came up and hit that double. So everything worked out.”

With two outs, two strikes and two men aboard, Farmer roped a double that drove in both runners and erased a one-run deficit as the Dodgers captured a 4-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. In the second game, the lineup could not capitalize on six scoreless innings from Rich Hill in a 2-1 defeat in 10 innings.

On the disabled list since May 19 because of a blister on his left middle finger, Hill returned in fine form. He struck out six batters and gave up only three hits. The bullpen could not replicate its stoutness from earlier in the day. Erik Goeddel gave up his first run as a Dodger on a home run by Kyle Schwarber. In the 10th inning, Brock Stewart — called up to be the 26th player on the roster for the doubleheader — surrendered a leadoff triple to former National League most valuable player Kris Bryant and a walkoff single to Albert Almora.

The offense struggled all day. The Dodgers were four for 29 with runners in scoring position and stranded 24 runners.

The outing from Hill was a reason for optimism. Hill credited pitching coach Rick Honeycutt for suggesting a few mechanical changes while Hill recuperated over the last month. He reduced his earned-run average from 6.02 to 4.99.

“You want to talk about silver linings or whatever, that’s a really good way to look at it,” Hill said. “To take the time and figure out, OK, what is going on here? And clean up some things mechanically and get back to where we were the last three years.”

The matchup served as a rematch of the last two NL Championship Series. The Cubs beat he Dodgers in 2016 and captured their first championship since 1908. The next October, the Dodgers toppled the Cubs only to fall to Houston in the World Series, extending a drought that has dragged on since 1988. The teams could meet again this October, if the Dodgers can leapfrog Arizona in the NL West and the Cubs can do the same to Milwaukee in the NL Central.

The matinee featured an abbreviated outing from Kenta Maeda, a bravura performance by the Dodgers bullpen and an afternoon of angst aimed at Gibson. Maeda gave up three runs as he failed to complete the fourth inning. He operated without fastball command, even within Gibson’s inexact strike zone. The relievers tallied 5 1/3 scoreless innings, capped by Kenley Jansen’s 18th save.

The day started with a jolt. Joc Pederson homered on the second pitch of the game from starter Tyler Chatwood. In Chatwood, the Dodgers faced one of the most imprecise pitchers in baseball. Chatwood entered the game with 58 walks in 63 1/3 innings, a mind-boggling amount for a pitcher still maintaining a 4.12 ERA.

After Pederson’s homer, Chatwood walked Max Muncy and Justin Turner. The Chicago partisans grumbled as Grandal came up. The at-bat would flummox Grandal. Gibson afforded Chatwood two strikes on changeups that appeared outside the zone, and rung up Grandal on one of them. Kemp popped up and Cody Bellinger swung through a 95-mph fastball to leave the runners aboard.

The top of the second inning looked similar: Chatwood issued two walks and escaped unscathed. The Cubs provided a better example of how to perform with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning. Maeda gave up two singles before walking Chris Gimenez, who carried a .176 batting average to the plate. With the bases loaded, Maeda hung a slider and Bryant connected for a two-run double into left field.

“He didn’t have command of the fastball, and he didn’t execute his slider,” Roberts said. “There were a lot of backed-up sliders that just wouldn’t finish.”

The virus of wildness spread from Chatwood to Maeda, who walked a career-high five batters. Roberts intervened in the fourth inning after a single by Jason Heyward and a walk by Ben Zobrist. Against Zobrist, Maeda threw a curveball in the dirt, a curveball high, a changeup outside and a 3-and-0 fastball well below the zone. Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with a single against Adam Liberatore.

The irritation with Gibson boiled over in the fifth inning. Gibson called Turner and Kemp out on strikes. While Kemp carped about Gibson’s zone after the third out, Turner and others hollered at the umpire from the bench. Third base coach Chris Woodward tried to divert Kemp from the scene. Gibson turned away from Kemp and ejected him. As Roberts arrived to protest the decision, Gibson ejected him, too.

“He was calling what he was calling,” Kemp said. “Y’all trying to be messy. It is what it is. I got kicked out. I shouldn’t have gotten kicked out in that situation.”

Like Kemp, Roberts opted for a diplomatic tack. He called Gibson “a good umpire.”

“It just seemed to me there were more pitches that went their way than our way,” Roberts said. “That’s just my opinion. … You want to protect the player. I just didn’t agree with some of those calls, and you can’t argue balls and strikes. So [Gibson] did what he was supposed to do.”

The Dodgers snatched a run back in the sixth inning. Chris Taylor cracked a grounder past third baseman Bryant and into the left-field ivy. As Schwarber tried to retrieve it, Taylor raced for a triple. He scored on a bloop double by Yasiel Puig between three defenders in right-center field.

The deficit was a run when the ninth inning began. Brandon Morrow, the former Dodger signed in the offseason to close for Chicago, was unavailable as he nursed a back injury. After a leadoff walk from Austin Barnes and a one-out single by Turner, Farmer pulled a 2-and-2 cutter from Wilson to give his team the lead.

“He threw me a slider down and in,” Farmer said. “And I put a bat on it, luckily.”

Clayton Kershaw to make a minor league start before rejoining the Dodgers

By Andy McCullough

The Dodgers have added another checkpoint for Clayton Kershaw to clear on his return from the 10-day disabled list. Kershaw will pitch in a minor league rehabilitation game on Saturday for triple-A Oklahoma City, rather than start in New York against the Mets.

Kershaw is expected to make a four-inning, 60-pitch appearance. If he completes the assignment without incident, the team will activate him next week, manager Dave Roberts indicated.

“It’s just [giving] him the best chance for success and health,” Roberts said before the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Wrigley Field. “You consider all the factors. Get a lot of thoughts and opinions from people more qualified than I am, and you make a decision.”

The process led to Kershaw pitching on Saturday in Omaha against the Storm Chasers, Kansas City’s triple-A affiliate. He faced the same organization in his lone rehab outing as he returned from a back injury last summer.

Kershaw has pitched only once since May 1. He missed a month with biceps tendinitis before suffering a recurrence of a strained muscle in his lower back on May 31. Kershaw missed five weeks with a similar injury last season.

Kershaw completed a three-inning simulated game on Monday. He had hoped to pitch in the major leagues as his next step.

“He stated his case,” Roberts said. “He made his case. As he always does. Which is great. Which is what you expect.”

SHORT HOPS: As the Dodgers activated Rich Hill from the disabled list, the team optioned utilityman Breyvic Valera to Oklahoma City. Valera has hit .172 in 20 games for the Dodgers. … The team did not activate Chase Utley (left thumb sprain) during the doubleheader. Roberts indicated the team would bring Utley off the disabled list on either Tuesday or Wednesday. … The Dodgers called up Brock Stewart from Oklahoma City to be the 26th man for Tuesday’s second game.

OC REGISTER

Clutch hits elude Dodgers in nightcap as Cubs earn doubleheader split on walk-off hit

By Bill Plunkett

CHICAGO — The Dodgers and Chicago Cubs spent a long day searching for heroes in Wrigleyville and found one apiece.

Kyle Farmer’s two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s first game gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory. In the nightcap, the Cubs had their moment. Albert Almora Jr.’s RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Cubs a 2-1 walk-off victory and a split of the day-night doubleheader.

Nine of Farmer’s 10 career RBIs have now come in the eighth inning or later.

“I keep finding myself in these situations,” Farmer said.

He found himself in this one in large part because Yasmani Grandal and Matt Kemp (plus Manager Dave Roberts) had been ejected earlier in the game for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Tripp Gibson.

Gibson had as much difficulty with the strike zone as starting pitchers Kenta Maeda and Tyler Chatwood who combined to walk 10 batters. Maeda’s five walks were a career high and came in just 3-2/3 innings.

“With Kenta or any pitcher, if you’re not commanding your fastball you’re going to be in trouble,” Roberts said. “Today, he didn’t have command of the fastball and his slider, he didn’t execute his slider. There were a lot of back-up sliders. They just wouldn’t finish.

“I just didn’t think he had it today.”

The same could be said of Gibson. He angered the Dodgers with a series of questionable strike calls early in the game. It came to a head in the fourth inning when Justin Turner and Kemp each got in Gibson’s face to argue calls. Kemp and Roberts were tossed after his inning-ending strikeout.

“He was calling what he was calling,” Kemp offered diplomatically after the game.

After Gibson called another questionable third strike on Grandal for the second out in the ninth inning, the Dodgers catcher snapped and was ejected. That brought up Farmer as a pinch-hitter.

Down to their last strike at 2-and-2, Farmer lashed a double down the third-base line past a diving Kris Bryant, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs.

“Watching these guys and their approach at the plate and they were battling, I just wanted to be a part of it and try to do the same thing,” Farmer said.

The battle was a losing one in the second game. The Dodgers went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base (including twice getting no runs out of bases-loaded situations). In eight of the 10 innings, the Dodgers put the leadoff man on base. None of them scored.

“I can recall a couple balls that we hit hard but we just couldn’t get the big hit,” Roberts said. “One part of it is having good at-bats to get guys on base and to create traffic. The other part of the equation is to get the big hit. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done tonight.”

If Roberts wanted to look for a silver lining, Rich Hill was it. The veteran left-hander reclaimed more than his spot in the starting rotation with his return from the DL.

Pitching for the first time since May 19 – when he lasted only two pitches after ripping open a blister on his middle finger – Hill threw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out six.

As anxious as Hill was to return from the latest flare-up of his persistent blister problems, he was also energized by the results he got in his rehab start from a slight mechanical adjustment in his delivery.

“If you want to talk about silver linings, that’s a really good way to look at it,” Hill said of the work he did while on the DL. “To take the time and figure out, alright, what’s going on here and how do we clean some things up mechanically and get back to where we were the last three years. I certainly do look at it like that, for sure.”Hill handed a 1-0 lead to the bullpen in the seventh but Kyle Schwarber jumped a first-pitch fastball from Erik Goeddel in the bottom of the seventh and hammered it into the right-field seats. It was the first run Goeddel had given up after 13 scoreless appearances since joining the Dodgers from the Seattle Mariners.

It stayed tied until the bottom of the 10th when Brock Stewart – added from Triple-A Oklahoma City as the 26th man for the doubleheader – took over and gave up a drive into the right-field corner by Kris Bryant. The ball kicked off the hard brick near the 343-foot sign and kicked back toward the infield. By the time Yasiel Puig ran it down, Bryant was on third base with a triple.

“Bryant, a good hitter, put a good swing on the ball,” Roberts said. “After that, our backs were against the wall.”

After an intentional walk of Javier Baez, Almora lined the game-winning hit into right field.

Kyle Farmer rescues Dodgers with two-run, pinch-hit double in 9th

By Bill Plunkett

CHICAGO — With the Dodgers down to their last strike, Kyle Farmer came through with a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Farmer’s pinch-hit double salvaged a game that, before Farmer got off the bench, saw the Dodgers go 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and have three players ejected for arguing called third strikes.

Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood and Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda struggled to find the strike zone. The two combined for 10 walks, with Chatwood going five innings. Maeda walked a career-high five while lasting only 3-2/3 innings.

Home plate umpire Tripp Gibson had his own problems finding the strike zone. He angered the Dodgers with a series of called strikes in the early innings. It came to a head in the fourth when Justin Turner and Matt Kemp each got in Gibson’s face after called third strikes.

Kemp and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts were ejected following that inning-ending strikeout.

The Dodgers scored first on a home run by Joc Pederson leading off the game, his eighth home run of June.

Chatwood sidestepped any more damage despite five walks, a hit batter (Chris Taylor took one off the back of his helmet) and a wild pitch in his five innings. The Dodgers’ next run didn’t come until the sixth inning when the Cubs infielders lost a ball in the sun – which briefly made an appearance – and Yasiel Puig’s pop-up fell for an RBI double.

Maeda wasn’t quite as effective at avoiding paying for his control problems.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Cubs in the second inning. Maeda was one pitch away from getting out of the inning but Kris Bryant lined a full-count pitch down the left-field line for a two-run double.

Two innings later, Maeda gave up a two-out single and walked his career-high fifth batter, prompting Roberts to replace him with Adam Liberatore. Anthony Rizzo dropped an RBI single into left field.

It stayed that way when the Cubs stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon opted to go with lefty reliever Justin Wilson in the ninth – not former Dodger Brandon Morrow, signed as a free agent to be the Cubs’ closer this year. Morrow is dealing with a sore back.

Wilson walked pinch-hitter Austin Barnes to start the ninth, the Dodgers’ eighth walk of the game. One out later, Turner moved the tying run into scoring position with a single.

That brought Yasmani Grandal to the plate. When Gibson called a third strike on him that looked low, Grandal complain in animated fashion and flung his bat away when Gibson ejected him from the game.

Farmer came up as a pinch-hitter and lashed a grounder down the third-base line, past a diving Bryant. Barnes and Turner scored as the ball rattled down the left-field line.

Kenley Jansen closed it out in the bottom of the ninth, converting his 16th consecutive save situation.

Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw will make Triple-A rehab start Saturday

By Bill Plunkett

CHICAGO — Left-hander Clayton Kershaw will make a rehabilitation start in Triple-A before returning to the Dodgers’ rotation, potentially next week.

Kershaw is expected to throw four innings or approximately 60 pitches for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday. If all goes well, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, Kershaw’s next start will be for the Dodgers.

Kershaw threw 45 pitches in three simulated innings Monday afternoon and said he expected to pitch “somewhere” in four or five days. His unstated preference was apparently to skip the rehab start and return to the Dodgers’ rotation.

“He stated his case – as he has always done. Which is great. It’s what you would expect,” Roberts said.

However, Kershaw has pitched just five innings in an actual game over the past seven weeks. After his May 1 start, he went on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis for 30 days. He returned without making a rehab start and made only one start before going on the DL with a lower back strain (the third consecutive season he has spent time on the DL with a back injury).

That lack of competitive innings over the past two months was a factor in the decision to have Kershaw make a rehab start this time, Roberts said. But the primary focus is “putting him in the best chance to have success and health.”

PRIOR MEMORIES

For Dodgers first-year bullpen coach Mark Prior, this week’s series at Wrigley Field is a return to the scene of his prime – and perhaps a reminder of what might have been.

Prior said he had been back to Wrigley Field twice since his big-league career ended in 2006 at age 25 – once to speak at a Cubs event and once for … another pretty big event.

“Came back here for the World Series,” Prior said. “I sat in the stands and watched. It was great. It was unique. I’d never actually watched a game from the stands here.”

This Dodgers-Cubs series is Prior’s first time on the field at Wrigley since his playing career ended prematurely due to injuries. But the ending isn’t the part Prior wants to remember.

“Lot of good memories,” said Prior, who was 42-29 over five seasons with the Cubs, going to the All-Star Game in 2003 and pitching in the National League Championship Series that year. Prior was the Cubs’ pitcher in Game 6 when the infamous Bartman incident took place.

“I mean, look, everybody at some point who’s been around the game has had their ups and downs and I had my ups and downs, for sure. But no doubt I loved playing for the Cubs. I loved playing in Chicago. I’m proud of it. My first year we lost 99 (actually 95) games. The next year, we turned it around (and made that NLCS). It kind of felt like we did a lot of really good things. It was fun.”

MAEDA HIP

Right-hander Kenta Maeda walked a career-high five in just 3-2/3 innings in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader and has not been sharp since returning from a strained right hip. In two starts since coming off the DL, Maeda has allowed five runs on 10 hits and eight walks while striking out only three in 8-2/3 innings. Before going on the DL, Maeda was averaging 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings (by far the highest of his three seasons with the Dodgers).

“There’s no pain in that area, no sense of discomfort,” Maeda said through his interpreter of returning from the strained hip muscle. “But I just feel my mechanics aren’t there and I’m a little bit protecting it.

“Just sort of being able to put weight on my back leg and the timing of everything that follows that hasn’t been there. … There’s no pain, no discomfort. It’s just automatically protecting it. So I need to make sure I get rid of that during practices.”

ALSO

Before the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, the Dodgers activated left-hander Rich Hill from the DL and optioned Breyvic Valera back to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Valera is 5 for 29 (.172) in 20 games with the Dodgers this season.

In addition, right-hander Brock Stewart was recalled from OKC (again) to serve as the 26th man allowed for the second game of the doubleheader.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Ross Stripling, 6-1, 1.76 ERA) at Cubs (LHP Jon Lester, 8-2, 2.28 ERA), Wednesday, 11:20 a.m., SportsNet LA (where available), MLB Network (out of market only).

ESPN

Dodgers 'encouraged' after Clayton Kershaw works simulated game

By Bradford Doolittle

CHICAGO -- Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game at Wrigley Field on Monday, then pronounced himself ready to take a turn in the rotation.

That rotation may not be that of the Dodgers, said manager Dave Roberts.

"Absolutely we're ready for him to pitch in four or five days," Roberts said. "We haven't made that decision where.

"A rehab start for one of our faves, most likely [Triple-A Oklahoma City], or a major league start. It's a conversation, but I think obviously Clayton is going to be more on the aggressive side, which we all know and appreciate. But we have to have the conversation with the training staff and front office, and really try to figure out what makes the most sense for him and for us."

Kershaw hasn't pitched in a live game situation since May 31, when he left after five innings when his back tightened up in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. That was Kershaw's first game back from the disabled list, where he had been since May 6 because of left biceps tendinitis.

Roberts says the lack of activity might play into whether Kershaw's next stop will come in a minor league rehab start or for the Dodgers.

"You can absolutely make that case," Roberts said. "That's kind of our thought, but then you talk to the player. But, yeah, when looking at how much he's pitched over the last couple of months, it hasn't been a whole lot. To see it in real competition, obviously that makes a lot of sense."

Kershaw's back trouble has been a persistent problem over the past few years. This season marks the fourth time he has ended up on the disabled list with a back-related problem and the third year in a row it has happened. However, all signs were positive in his workout on Monday on a hot, humid afternoon in Chicago.

"Everything went fine," Kershaw said. "Four or five days from now, I'll be pitching somewhere."

Still, Kershaw has thrown a total of five innings since May 1, and even he's not sure whether he's ready to stretch out to the six or seven innings the Dodgers have grown accustomed to getting from him over the years.

"That's a good question," Kershaw said when asked if he'll be ready to go that long in a few days. "I don't know how to answer that. Honestly, but vaguely. Today, I felt good. The next step will be in four or five days."

Kershaw, who can opt out of his contract after the season, has gone 1-4 with a 2.76 ERA, the latter of which is his highest since 2010. In his last start, the one against the Phillies, his velocity was down yet he still managed to hold Philadelphia to one run in his five innings.

The Dodgers have managed to overcome a number of rotation-related injuries this season and have gone 11-3 since Kershaw went back on the DL, and have moved within 1½ games of first place in the NL West.

Still, if Los Angeles is going to win its sixth straight division crown, chances are the Dodgers will need a lot more from their longtime No. 1 starter. That's why you couldn't help but detect a hint of optimism in Roberts' voice as he discussed Kershaw's effort on Monday.

"It was good, " Roberts said. "Very encouraged, just the way the ball was coming out today, the command of the fastball. For me, and obviously this setting is not a major league game, but for me, it's the best it's been in a month. For sure."

Cubs beat Dodgers 2-1 in 10 innings for doubleheader split

By AP

CHICAGO -- Albert Almora Jr. got even. So did the Chicago Cubs.

Almora hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning, and the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Tuesday night to salvage a split of their day-night doubleheader.

Kris Bryant sparked the winning rally with a leadoff triple against Brock Stewart (0-1). After Javier Baez was walked intentionally, Almora hit a liner into right field.

In the Cubs' 4-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1, Almora popped out to first with the bases loaded with one out in the eighth. The Dodgers intentionally walked Jason Heyward before Yimi Garcia retired Almora.

"It was personal for me," Almora said. "I didn't come through. I was a little aggressive.

"I learned from the first mistake and I didn't do too much (in the second game), but I really wanted that one pretty bad. It was just a little bit of revenge from the first game."

Rob Zastryzny (1-0), the fifth Cubs reliever, got Yasmani Grandal to fly out with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th to earn the win.

The rematch of the last two NL Championship Series was set to begin on Monday night, but the opener was postponed by a mixture of poor weather and a limited power outage at Wrigley Field. It's the only scheduled visit for Los Angeles, leading to the day-night doubleheader.

"It was two really interesting games," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Could have lost both, could have won both. It's nice to walk off."

Los Angeles began the long day with its 4-3 victory on pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer's two-run double in the ninth. Joc Pederson led off the game with his ninth homer and Yasiel Puig drove in a run with a bloop double.

The Dodgers jumped in front in the nightcap on Austin Barnes' RBI single in the sixth. But the Cubs tied it on Kyle Schwarber's 13th homer, a drive to right against Erik Goeddel in the seventh.

Los Angeles wasted an impressive return for Rich Hill, who pitched six innings of three-hit ball in his first major league start in a month. Hill was placed on the disabled list on May 20 with a blister on his left middle finger, a recurring problem for the veteran left-hander.

"The fastball command, the curveball command, it was on point tonight," manager Dave Roberts said. "You hope to get something like that, but you never know what you're going to get making his first start back from injury, but again, he was outstanding."

Mike Montgomery kept Chicago in the game with six effective innings, yielding one run and five hits. The lefty has a 1.21 ERA in five starts since he was inserted into the rotation after Yu Darvish went on the disabled list on May 26 with right triceps tendinitis.

"I just want him to continue to take start after start like this," Maddon said.

Bryant led off in each half of the doubleheader. The third baseman doubled twice and drove in two runs in Game 1, and went 1 for 5 in the night cap.

It was the third and fourth times this season -- and in his career -- that the slugger batted at the top of the order.

Bryant's two-run double in the opener helped Chicago to a 3-1 lead. But Puig doubled in Chris Taylor in the sixth, setting the stage for the ninth-inning rally.

Farmer lined a 2-2 pitch from Justin Wilson (1-2) into the corner in left after pinch-hitter Austin Barnes walked and Justin Turner singled. Farmer is batting just .238 for the season, but is 6 for 16 with two doubles off the bench.

Edward Paredes (2-0), the fifth of six Dodgers relievers, got one out in the eighth to earn the win. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

Wilson (1-2) came one pitch away from earning his first save. Maddon used the lefty because closer Brandon Morrow has a sore back that flared up on Monday.

The Dodgers' Kenta Maeda lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and five hits in his second start since coming off the disabled list. Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood allowed two hits and struck out six in five innings, walking five to increase his major league-leading total to 63.

MAKING MOVES

To make room for Hill on the roster, the Dodgers optioned infielder/outfielder Breyvic Valera to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Stewart was added to the roster as the 26th man prior to the second game of the doubleheader. The Cubs recalled right-hander Justin Hancock from Triple-A Iowa as their 26th man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The Cubs celebrated Hall of Famer Billy Williams' 80th birthday during the nightcap. Led by the Wrigley organist, many in the crowd of 40,409 joined in singing "Happy Birthday" to the six-time All-Star after the second inning.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (strained lower back) is scheduled make a minor league rehab start on Saturday with Triple-A Oklahoma City. According to Roberts, Kershaw will be limited to four innings and 60 pitches. His next appearance could be with Los Angeles. ... INF Chase Utley (left thumb sprain) could be activated off the DL on Wednesday.

Cubs: Maddon gave no timetable for Morrow's return. ... Darvish will throw a simulated game on Wednesday. Maddon said the Cubs will determine the next step in the right-hander's rehab program based on his response. ... INF Javier Baez, hit on the elbow by a pitch on Sunday, returned to the starting lineup at second base in the nightcap. Baez entered the first game in the seventh inning.

UP NEXT

Dodgers RHP Ross Stripling (6-1, 1.76 ERA) squares off against Cubs LHP Jon Lester (8-2, 2.28 ERA) on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale.

Farmer PH double lifts Dodgers over Cubs in 1st game of DH

By AP

CHICAGO -- Once again, Kyle Farmer came through in a pinch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pinch-hitting with two outs in the ninth, Farmer doubled sharply down the left-field line to drive in two runs, and Los Angeles came back to edge the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Farmer lined a 2-2 pitch from Justin Wilson into the corner after Wilson had walked pinch-hitter Austin Barnes and Justin Turner singled. Farmer is batting just .238 for the season, but is 6 for 16 with two doubles off the bench.

"He's had some big hits for us in big spots," manager Dave Roberts said. "Never seen Wilson, and to stay in that at-bat, gets a ball 2-2 in. Big hit, so Kyle, can't say enough about him."

Farmer started the season with the Dodgers, but was sent to Triple-A on May 13. Since his recall last Friday, he had only one at-bat before Tuesday.

But Farmer came through with his third game-winning RBI this season.

"I'm just one part of it," Farmer said. "And I keep finding myself in these situations."

Joc Pederson led off the game with solo shot and Yasiel Puig drove in a run with a bloop double in a rematch of the last two NL Championship Series.

Kris Bryant doubled twice and drove in two runs. Anthony Rizzo added an RBI single for Chicago.

Edward Paredes (2-0), the fifth of six Dodgers relievers, got one out in the eighth to earn the win. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

Wilson (1-2) came one pitch away from earning his first save. Manager Joe Maddon used the lefty because closer Brandon Morrow has a sore back that flared up on Monday.

So Morrow, who has 16 saves in 17 chances, wasn't available?

"Yeah, although I should have been pitching him on the ninth," Maddon said. "It's one of those things I don't want to tell you guys before the game because then you tell the other team and I have no advantage whatsoever."

The Dodgers' Kenta Maeda struggled with his control in his second start since coming off the disabled list. The right-hander lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and five walks.

Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood allowed two hits and struck out six in five innings, walking five to increase his major-league leading total to 63. Chatwood hit Chris Taylor on the helmet with a pitch in the fourth, but Taylor remained in the game and tripled and scored in the sixth.

Dodgers left fielder Matt Kemp and Roberts were ejected in the fifth inning for arguing after home plate umpire Tripp Gibson called out Kemp on strikes. Yasmani Grandal was ejected in the ninth after he was caught looking.

The doubleheader was set up after Monday night's game was postponed by rain and a limited power outage at Wrigley Field.

The Dodgers played their first game at Wrigley Field since they advanced to the World Series with an 11-1 victory over the Cubs in Game 5 of the NLCS on Oct. 19. The teams also met in the 2016 NLCS, with Chicago advancing on its way to its first championship since 1908.

After Pederson led off the first with his ninth homer, the Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the second. Chicago loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, then Bryant's liner down the left-field line with two outs bounced up into the stands for a ground-rule double and scored two runs.

After Maeda was lifted with two outs in the fourth, Rizzo greeted reliever Adam Liberatore with an RBI single to left.

Los Angeles cut it to 3-2 in the sixth on Taylor's triple, followed by Puig's double that dropped between three Cubs in short center.

HOME SWEET HOME

Rizzo has RBI in 10 straight home games, becoming the fourth Cub to do it since 1920.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: LHP and ace Clayton Kershaw (strained lower back) is scheduled make a minor-league rehab start on Saturday with Triple-A Oklahoma City at Omaha. According to manager Dave Roberts, Kershaw will be limited to four innings and 60 pitches. The left-hander's next appearance could be with Los Angeles. ... INF Chase Utley (left thumb sprain) could be activated off the DL later Tuesday or on Wednesday.

Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish, out since May 26 with right triceps tendinitis, will throw a simulated game on Wednesday. Manager Joe Maddon said the Cubs will determine the next step in Darvish's rehab program based on his response. ... INF Javier Baez, hit on the elbow by a pitch in St. Louis on Sunday, didn't start but came into play second base in the seventh.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 6.20) will come off the disabled list to start Game 2. Hill was placed on the DL on May 20 with a recurring blister on his left middle finger.

Cubs: LHP Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.31) will start the second game. The lefty is 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts since he was inserted into the rotation after Darvish was sidelined.

TRUE BLUE LA

Andrew Sopko wins again for Tulsa; Logan Landon & Jared Walker hit All-Star home runs

By Eric Stephen

Tuesday featured a pair of minor league All-Star Games, each including a Dodgers home run, and a slew of 2018 draft picks making their professional debuts.

Player of the day

Andrew Sopko struck out three in his six innings, allowing a run in a win for Tulsa, enjoying his return to Double-A. After making 23 starts for the Drillers in 2017, Sopko was a victim of the depth chart to start this season, opening with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. In three starts since rejoining Tulsa, Sopko is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA, and on the season has a 2.93 ERA in 15 starts, with 87 strikeouts in 83 innings.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

An error by Angelo Mora in the 10th inning allowed an unearned run to score, giving the Las Vegas 51s (Mets) a 3-2 win over Oklahoma City. The new rule in the minors placed a runner at second base to start each inning after the ninth. Las Vegas on Tuesday sacrificed the runner to third base, then saw the fateful ground ball to shortstop that was mishandled by Mora, scoring the winning run.

OKC flew out twice and grounded out in their half of the 10th.

Edwin Rios had two hits in defeat. Brett Pill struck out five and allowed a run in his five-inning start, getting a no-decision.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers opened the second half with a 5-1 home win over the Springfield Cardinals, with the big hit a three-run double by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo in a four-run third inning. Outfielder turned pitcher Stetson Allie was promoted to Double-A and tossed a scoreless inning in relief, with one strikeout.

Tulsa played on Tuesday as Los Petroleros de Tulsa (“The Oilmen of Tulsa”), as part of minor league baseball’s initiative to celebrate Hispanic culture and fans. The uniforms and caps looked like this:

Advanced Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes were off, but five players took part in the California League All-Star Game, won by the North 8-1. Logan Landon started in right field and had two of the South’s four hits, homering for their only run.

Connor Wong started at catcher and was 0-for-2. Omar Estevez went 0-for-2 and played second base in reserve. Dean Kremer allowed a run on three hits and recorded two outs in relief.

Rylan Bannon was 0-for-3 with a walk and played all nine innings at third base. He also did well in the home run derby:

Class-A Great Lakes

A pair of Loons played in the Midwest League All-Star Game, won by the East 3-2 in 10 innings. Jared Walker homered and started at third base for the East, and Andre Scrubb retired his only batter faced in relief. The two teams combined to use 28 pitchers (14 each) in the 10 inning game, which ended in odd fashion:

Rookie-level Ogden

The Raptors beat the Orem Owls (Angels) 7-2 in a game highlighted for the debuts of several 2018 Dodgers draft picks:

8th-rounder Luke Heyer started at third base and was 1-for-3 with two RBI13th-rounder Dillon Paulson started at first and went 1-for-3 with a double18th-rounder Niko Hulsizer started in right field and was 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored29th-round pick Daniel Robinson started in left and was 1-for-3 with a walk, run and RBI30th-rounder Matt Cogen was 0-for-2 as the designated hitter but walked three times and scored a runTransactionsTriple-A: Brock Stewart was called up to the Dodgers as their 26th man in a doubleheader, and utility man Breyvic Valera was optioned to Oklahoma City. Matt Beaty was placed on the seven-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday.

Class-A: The Quakes added pitcher Nathan Witt, the Dodgers’ 17th-round pick in 2017 out of Michigan State. Witt, who pitched five innings for the Arizona League Dodgers last year, will make his 2018 debut with Rancho.

Rookie: 2018 draftees James Outman, Luke Heyer, Dillon Paulson, Niko Hulsizer, Daniel Robinson and Matt Cogen joined Ogden. Shortstop Ronny Brito joined the Raptors from the Dominican Summer League (the 19-year-old played 16 games with Ogden last season). Infielder Leonel Valera was sent to the Arizona League. Ogden released outfielders Pascal Amon and Felix Osorio.

Dodgers settle for a split as the Cubs walk-off in Game 2

By Ryan Walton

It was a struggle for both teams to get anything going once they got runners into scoring position in either game of the doubleheader Tuesday. The Dodgers were a combined 4-for-29 on the day and the Cubs were 2-for-16, that is until they got a hit in the bottom of the 10th inning when it mattered.

Kris Bryant led off the 10th with a triple in the right field corner to immediately put the Dodgers on the ropes. The crushing blow would come two batters later when Albert Almora Jr. lined a single through the right side of the infield to hand the Cubs a 2-1 victory.

The Dodgers ha their chance in the top of the extra frame the they loaded the bases with two outs and Yasmani Grandal coming to the plate. Grandal would pop out to right field to end the threat.

Rich Hill turned in his best start of the season with six scoreless innings, returning from the disabled list without a hitch. The lefty struck out six while giving up three hits and two walks.

The Dodgers gave Hill a lead in the top of the sixth when Cody Bellinger came around to score on an Austin Barnes RBI-single. The lead would be entrusted to Erik Goeddel who hadn’t allowed a run in 13 appearances with Los Angeles this season.

Three pitches into Goeddel’s 14th appearance, Kyle Schwarber would park a 93-mph fastball in the right field bleachers near the scoreboard. A no-doubter, Schwarber’s 13th homer of the year tied the game at one apiece.

Up next

It’s getaway day for the Dodgers and Cubs as they play their third game in less than 30 hours at 11:20 a.m. PT. It should be a solid matchup on the mound as Ross Stripling (6-1, 1.76) and Jon Lester (8-2, 2.28) look to continue their momentum.

Brock Stewart has been called up to the Dodgers 16 different times in under 2 years

By Eric Stephen

Brock Stewart was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City as the 26th man for the Dodgers before the second game of their doubleheader against the Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field. It continues not only a travel-filled year for the right-hander, but also keeps up a pattern that has lasted since his major league debut in 2016.

Because of Friday’s rainout both the Cubs and Dodgers were allowed an extra player on the active roster, but only for the second game of the twin bill. On doubleheaders that are scheduled with more advance time (like April 28 in San Francisco, for instance) the teams can use a 26th man for both games. The reasoning behind the difference, at least in theory, is to prevent a potential advantage for the home team, should their minor league team be closer to make travel easier to make it in time for a game after such a quick turnaround.

For Stewart, this will be his sixth stint in the majors this season. He has already been sent to the minors five times and will likely make it a sixth before Wednesday’s series finale. I can’t remember a Dodger who was optioned more than seven times in a single season. The recent standouts are Danny Coulombe, optioned six times in 2015, and Blake DeWitt, optioned five times in 2009.

Coulombe was prepared for his role by the front office in 2015.

“They told me coming into this year that I’d most likely be an up-and-down guy, so just be ready for it,” Coulombe said three years ago. “It’s a lot of traveling, but it’s better being that guy than not being that guy.”

Stewart has similarly taken his frequent trips to and from the minors in stride this season, particular after a seven-day span in May during which he was recalled and optioned twice. Per the LA Times:

“Somebody has to be that guy who is here and there, up and down, helping out the team when needed. Lately there’s been a need in the bullpen and for some starting spots. I’m happy to do it.”

Stewart this season has a 5.60 ERA in eight major league appearances, including two starts, with 14 strikeouts and eight walks in 17⅔ innings. In six Triple-A starts Stewart has a 2.55 ERA with 24 strikeouts and nine walks in 24⅔ innings.

He last pitched on Wednesday in Oklahoma City, throwing 65 pitches in three innings.

Transience is nothing new for Stewart, who made his major league debut on June 29, 2016, almost two full years ago. He was optioned four times in his rookie season, then optioned five times in 2017, the latter more noteworthy considering a shoulder injury had Stewart on the 60-day disabled list until June 7.

This is an instructive case in how minor league options work. A player has three option seasons (sometimes four, in very rare cases), but during those seasons can be sent to the minors a theoretically unlimited number of times.

With major league active roster limits expanded in September and minor league seasons pretty much over after the first week of September, hardly anyone gets optioned in the season’s final month.

So if Stewart gets optioned again on Wednesday — technically, he’ll just be “returned” to the minors since he’s sort of up on a technicality now — that will make 15 different times sent to the minors for Stewart in under eight baseball months (July & August in 2016, June through August in 2017, April through June this season) with regular rosters.

That is quite a bit of back and forth.

Other moves

Rich Hill was activated from the disabled list to start the nightcap, his first major league action since leaving his May 19 start after just two pitches. Breyvic Valera was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the active roster for Hill. Valera is 5-for-29 (.172) with four walks in 20 games in the

majors this season, seeing time at second base, third base and in right field. This is the fifth time he has been sent to the minors this season, Stewart-esque.

Justin Hancock, a 27-year-old rookie right-handed pitcher, is the 26th man for the Cubs.

Dodgers pull off a ninth-inning comeback in Game 1 at Wrigley

By Ryan Walton

Entering Tuesday, the Dodgers had just one win in 30 games when they trailed going into the ninth inning. That would change when Kyle Farmer punched a double down the left field line to score a pair, helping the Dodgers to a 4-3 win in the opener of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Farmer came off the bench to pinch-hit with his team down one in the ninth with two on and two out. It was a 2-2 slider that he smoked past third to bring Austin Barnes and Justin Turner around to score.

The win means 12 wins in 15 games this month for a Dodger team that continues to find ways to win.

The Windy City had temporarily become Walk City early on when the the two teams combined to issue 12 walks in the first four plus innings. Cub starter Tyler Chatwood walked four in the first two innings and five overall, but would only allow one run in five innings on a Joc Pederson homer two pitches into the game.

Kenta Maeda walked a career-high five batters in 3 2⁄3 innings and was constantly working with runners on. Of the 21 batters Maeda faced, 12 would come to the plate with runners on.

With two on in the bottom of the second, Chris Gimenez — now hitting .150 on the year — walked to load the bases. Kris Bryant would poke a ground-rule double down the left field line to score two.

Anthony Rizzo added an RBI-single in the fourth to give the Cubs what looked like the winning run and a 3-1 lead.

Once again it was on the bullpen to keep the Dodgers in the game and once again they answered the call. Six relievers combined to go the final 5 1⁄3 and Kenley Jansen finished off the Cubs with a perfect ninth.

Up next

The Dodgers and Cubs will play Game 2 at 5:05 p.m. PT with Rich Hill (1-2, 6.20) coming of the disabled list to face Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.31).

Clayton Kershaw to go on rehab assignment Saturday

By Ryan Walton

The Dodgers announced Tuesday that Clayton Kershaw will head to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make a rehab start Saturday. The plan for Kershaw is to pitch four innings and if all goes well, this will be the final step before Kershaw rejoins the Dodger rotation next week.

The left-hander has pitched in only one game since May 1 after dealing with biceps tendonitis and more recently, back issues. Kershaw will be a welcome addition to a rotation ravaged by injury.

As for the Dodgers, they will square off with the Cubs for two games Tuesday in the friendly confines. Last time the Dodgers and Cubs squared off for a doubleheader was 16 years ago when their current manager, Dave Roberts, was hitting leadoff and playing centerfield. That day worked out well for the visitors with a pair of wins over a Cubs team that would lose 95 games.

The 2018 version of the Cubs is a bit different than the 2002 club, having already won 40 of 68 games this season.

This is the third doubleheader for the Dodgers in 2018, splitting two games in San Francisco on April 28 and sweeping two from the Nationals on May 19. Game 2 of the pair in Washington was actually the last time Rich Hill attempted a start, failing to make a pitch before exiting after a ruptured blister.

In the previous 10 doubleheaders dating back to 2010, the Dodgers have swept two, been swept in three and split five.

DODGER INSIDER

Down to their last strike, Kyle Farmer comes up clutch again for Dodgers

By Rowan Kavner

He’s done it in the 11th. He’s done it in the 10th. Now, Kyle Farmer can add a ninth-inning go-ahead double to his resume.

With the Dodgers down to their last strike, Farmer played the role of hero again Tuesday afternoon in the first game of the doubleheader at Wrigley Field, pulling a pinch-hit, go-ahead, two-run double down the third-base line to lift the Dodger to a 4–3 win.

“I keep finding myself in these situations,” Farmer said to SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “Watching the game, seeing the guys fight hard, I just want to be a part of it.”

Last year, Farmer memorably delivered a walk-off double in his first Major League at-bat in the 11th inning July 30 against the Giants.

Farmer would again torment the Giants this year with another extra-inning go-ahead double toward right field, this one coming in the 10th inning April 8 at AT&T Park.

This time, the opponent and the direction of the double were different. The result remained the same.

Four days after being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, Farmer put the Dodgers ahead in the ninth before Kenley Jansen finished off the comeback win.

“You look at the short time he’s been up here, he’s had some big hits for us,” said manager Dave Roberts, who was not around to see the Farmer hit on a roller coaster Tuesday morning of emotions for the Dodgers.

Between Joc Pederson’s home run on the first at-bat of the game — his eighth homer of June — and Yasiel Puig’s sixth-inning pop-up that dropped in for a run-scoring hit, both Matt Kemp and manager Dave Roberts were ejected. Kemp argued after a called third strike, Roberts came to his defense and both were tossed.

Immediately before Farmer stepped to the plate in the ninth inning, Yasmani Grandal was thrown out also arguing a called third strike.

The Dodgers still persevered.

“It says a lot about our guys,” Roberts said.

Both teams had opportunities missed throughout the day, with the Cubs leaving 13 on base and the Dodgers leaving on 11.

Once again called upon early, the Dodger bullpen came through. Starter Kenta Maeda allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings. None of the six Dodger relievers who entered were charged with a run.

The Dodger bullpen hasn’t allowed a run since last Tuesday.

Scott Alexander starred with 1 2/3 perfect innings, including three strikeouts. Daniel Hudson had a perfect inning. Edward Paredes got the Dodgers out of traffic. Kenley Jansen shut the Cubs down for his 18th save of the year.

The Dodgers moved to 4–1 this year in doubleheaders, with the second game of the day coming up at 5:05 p.m. PT with Rich Hill coming off the disabled list to make the start.

In a Dodger loss, a win is earned

By Cary Osborne

It was clear from the time that he went on the disabled list on May 20, despite skin hanging off his middle finger, that Rich Hill hated being on the shelf.

Six days after going on the disabled list, he was on the mound at Dodger Stadium pitching a simulated game with a bandage covering a nasty blister.

He couldn’t stand still — pitching bullpen and simulated games and taking laser treatments and keeping himself visible. All for this moment.

In the bottom of the sixth inning on Tuesday at Wrigley Field with runners on the corner and two outs, Hill, on the day he was removed from the disabled list, faced Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras.

One curveball. Two curveballs. Another. And a fourth — right by Contreras for a called third strike.

Hill walked off the mound and let out a triumphant, cathartic yell.

Hill left the game with a lead, one the Dodgers would lose along with the game 2–1, but it was a win in the sense that a vital Dodger starting pitcher came back strong and came out healthy.

“His intensity was good, as always,” said manager Dave Roberts to SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “The fastball command, the curveball command — it was on point tonight. You hope to get something like that, but you never know what you’re going to get from a first start back from injury. But again, he was outstanding.”

Hill went six innings, allowed three hits, walked two, struck out six and kept the Cubs off the scoreboard.

He ran into trouble in the second inning, loading the bases, but he escaped by striking out Cubs starting pitcher Mike Montgomery. That began a string of 11 straight Cubs retired.

“Stay in the moment. Making sure every pitch that’s coming out of your hand is the way you want it to and the execution will take care of itself,” was how Hill described getting through Tuesday’s pressure situations.

Of Hill’s first 15 curveballs, seven were thrown for strikes. Of his last 23, 19 were strikes.

first 15 curves 7 strikes

By game score (72), it was Hill’s best game of the year.

The Dodgers grabbed a 1–0 lead in the sixth after Cody Bellinger stole second base and came around to score on an Austin Barnes single.

However, the Cubs became the first team to get to reliever Erik Goeddel as a Dodger. Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run off him in the seventh. Goeddel had previously not allowed a run in 13 games since joining the Dodgers.

The Cubs walked off with the win after Kris Bryant tripled in the 10th inning off Brock Stewart and scored on an Albert Almora Jr. single.

The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the second and 10th innings and were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

THE ATHLETIC

What’s in a name? Stripling’s cutter breaks the rules on pitch classification

By Daniel Brim

The 2018 Dodgers have a habit of bending pitch classifications.

First came Alex Wood’s “slider.” Wood throws the pitch with a knuckle-curveball grip, and for years the pitch taggers at PitchInfo (responsible for the tracking data at Brooks Baseball and FanGraphs) classified it as a curve. However, when it came to light that Wood calls the pitch a slider, they changed the tag. A properly executed breaking ball from Wood dives at the back foot of a right-handed batter. “Slider” may not match the grip or the spin, but it matches the intent.

Ross Stripling, 2018’s breakout star, also has broken the pitch classification rules. In late May, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported on the development of Stripling’s new cutter. According to Stripling, he throws all sliders to right-handed batters and all cutters to left-handed batters. He knows what he throws better than the tagging sites.

The problem with splitting classifications on Stripling’s slider is that he throws almost the same pitch to left- and right-handed batters. The movement and velocity are nearly identical. He even uses the pitches in the same situations to batters on both sides of the plate, throwing the slider/cutter about 60 percent of the time when behind in the count and lightly mixing it into other situations to keep hitters off-balance.

The difference then, as with Alex Wood, is intent. Below is the average vertical location of the pitch that PitchInfo classifies as Stripling’s slider, split by handedness of batter. You can see that the idea behind the cutter/slider split started to develop in the bullpen last year, as outlined in Ardaya’s piece last month:

Stripling’s preferred location for the cutter to left-handed batters is belt-high on the hands, on the edge or just off the plate. He doesn’t often try to throw it at the back foot like most opposite-handed sliders, though he will occasionally attempt to back-door the pitch to steal strikes. His slider location is much more traditional against right-handed batters, either going for low-and-away strikes or getting batters to chase off the corner.

It’s a dangerous plan. Middle-in sliders and cutters cause damage when they’re put in play, so small location mistakes can be crushed. Left-handed batters are hitting .333 and slugging .556 on plate appearances ending in Stripling cutters. However, those numbers hide some ball-in-play luck. Stripling uses the pitch to get back into counts rather than get strikeouts, so some of the best executed versions of the pitch do not impact ball-in-play results. Given how the pitch is used, those results aren’t that bad.

To examine this further, we’re going to look more in-depth at two cutters Stripling threw against the Braves in last Sunday’s start. The first is this pitch to Johan Camargo:Stripling hit catcher Austin Barnes’ target, and it worked despite the target’s relatively dangerous location.

When figuring why Stripling gets good results on pitches like these, it’s helpful to look at how he uses his other pitches in combination with the new cutter. Baseball Prospectus accounts for this information with their pitch tunneling numbers, though the numbers they give are only for consecutive pitches. Stripling can use all of his pitches in all counts and commands them well, so a batter needs to watch for every pitch at all times. The consecutive order matters less.

Luckily, Baseball Prospectus has some ways to look at that as well. Its matchup tool allows different pitches to the same hitter to be charted on top of each other, even if they’re not consecutive. It also plots the pitches as three-dimensional trajectories from an approximation of the batter’s perspective, better showing the potential deception.

Below, the cutter shown above and a curve Stripling threw to Camargo later in the game are overlaid:

The small points in the flight path are where Baseball Prospectus estimates the batter’s swing decision point to be. In this case, the points are almost on top of each other, with the pitches significantly diverging only after they move closer to the plate. The pitches are also arriving at nearly the same speed, unlike many pairings of this type. This is ideal tunneling deception.

Here is what this looks like from the broadcast’s perspective. A pause has been added about one-third of the way to the plate:

As shown in the pitch chart, the trajectories are very similar, even though the broadcast reveals a slightly different release point. Still, with that kind of deception, it accounts for both a pop-up on a relatively dangerous cutter and a ground ball on a curve well below the zone.

Sometimes the tunnel is better with some extra spread. Here’s a cutter Stripling threw to Nick Markakis to start their third meeting of the afternoon:

In this case, the cutter is located higher in the zone. When put in play, sliders and cutters in this location are hit significantly worse than the above example to Camargo. In this case, Stripling got a called strike.

Again, this result can potentially be attributed to the way the pitch looks in conjunction with the curve. Here is a plot with a curve Stripling threw to Markakis in the previous plate appearance:

This is what the pitches look like visually:

The first pitch was taken just low for a ball. The second pitch was taken for a strike, partially because it looked somewhat like the curve thrown earlier in the game. In this case, the points diverged further from the plate and earlier than Baseball Prospectus’ decision point, but the result was still favorable.

Because Stripling’s curve has more vertical drop this year than it has in the past, the post-decision location split with the pitches is larger than it would have been previously. As a result, both pitches can be in low-risk locations at the plate with a tighter grouping immediately after release.

Stripling’s plan for his cutter to left-handed batters is unconventional, in that the pitch is commonly his slider used high in the zone. However, the plan is mostly working, partially due to Stripling’s excellent command, and partially because he can pair it well with his other pitches, improving those other pitches in turn. All of these factors together are another reason his early-season breakout has continued to last.

Playoffs past — and future — are prominent in Dodgers’ thoughts as they return to Wrigley

By Pedro Moura

CHICAGO — Dave Roberts sat atop Wrigley Field’s visiting dugout bench Monday evening, thinking back to October. In the room behind him, the Dodgers had raucously celebrated clinching their first World Series berth in 29 years, avenging their same-stage defeat from the previous year’s playoffs.

Near to the door to an adjacent room was a sign: “Utility.” When he saw it, Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández called over Cody Bellinger to crack a joke. When you hit three homers in a playoff game, Hernández said, they make a room just for you.

Ready to return, confident he’d last more than two pitches, Rich Hill moseyed out to the dugout and gazed out at the surrounding Wrigleyville neighborhood. He made his major-league debut at this stadium 13 years ago this week, at 25, and rented a place within walking distance while he played for the Cubs.

So, the Dodgers arrived with fond memories of this place. Those were not renewed Monday night, when rain, poor projections of rain and malfunctioning lights forced them to wait until 10 p.m. without playing a game. An early-morning wake-up call awaited Tuesday, in the hopes of fitting in 18 innings around more expected rain. They would begin at noon and finish late in the night.

The two teams managed 19 innings without a drop of rain in sight. The Dodgers came back to win the afternoon game, 4-3, and the Cubs completed the same feat in the evening, 2-1, in 10 innings.

The first game was wild. Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood entered it having walked as many men as he has struck out this season, and he did not change his course. In the fourth inning, he lost a fastball to Chris Taylor, knocking off his helmet. As Taylor walked to first base, turning away a Dodgers trainer, Chatwood profusely apologized. Two batters later, Chatwood airmailed a first-pitch fastball to Kenta Maeda, who was trying to bunt. Maeda, too, had to turn down a visit from a trainer to stay in the game.

He lasted only four batters into the bottom of the fourth. When Maeda issued a two-out walk to Ben Zobrist, Roberts lifted him for reliever Adam Liberatore, who let in the Cubs’ third run.

Roberts, too, lasted four batters into the fifth inning. After umpire Tripp Gibson called out Justin Turner and Matt Kemp on questionable third strikes, Kemp protested, and Gibson ejected him and Roberts in quick succession.

Four innings later, as Roberts watched from his office, Yasmani Grandal protested more Gibson calls and earned another ejection. He batted with the go-ahead run on first base as the Dodgers trailed by one run, and struck out on a borderline pitch.

The Dodgers’ last hope was Kyle Famer, and he was batting only because Kemp had been ejected earlier. Farmer stroked a two-strike double into left field, providing the Dodgers the decisive 4-3 lead. Kemp’s ejection paid additional dividends earlier as Joc Pederson, his replacement in the field, helped keep Javier Báez at third base when Kris Bryant doubled to the ivy in the eighth inning.

In the later game, Hill supplied six scoreless innings in his legitimate return to the mound after a two-pitch debacle last month in Washington D.C.

Hill convinced the club he was ready with a 4 2/3-inning, 10-strikeout start Thursday in Class-A. The next day, he said his curveball was “probably the best it’s been in three years”, dating to before he became a Dodger. And he rated his fastball as good as it was in 2016 and 2017. So, he felt pretty good, and he proved his expectations warranted.

He said he is striving to place most of his weight on his left heel during his delivery, not his toes, to keep the rest of his body in line. Unsteadiness plagued him before the blister, so he said the time off represented a “silver lining” to get it fixed.

“Cleaning that up made a big difference,” he said.

Healthy and confident, Hill was his normal grunting self, exerting himself in every way possible.

“His intensity was good, as always,” Roberts said.

Twice, the 38-year-old Hill ranged off the mound in an attempt to field ground balls. Once, it went well. The other time, not so much, as he scooped up a bunt near the line, was unable to make the throw in time, and repeatedly tumbled over in foul territory. He swung in a 3-1 count and laced a line drive just foul, and even tried to bunt for a hit, nearly beating the ball to the base in his dead sprint.

Those were little things. The big thing was he was back, and good, and the Dodgers can rely on him more. Only once this season had Hill completed six innings, in his April 1 debut. He had allowed fewer than three runs only once, too, that same night against San Francisco. Otherwise, he had generally been ineffective or bothered by a blister on his left middle finger.

The Dodgers (38-34) scored their lone night-side run when Bellinger walked, stole second and sprinted home on an Austin Barnes single. When Bellinger reached the dugout, Roberts showered him with praise.

The Dodgers went 1-for-14 in their other opportunities with runners in scoring position. It was an unproductive night, and Brock Stewart bore the brunt of it. Rushed in from Triple-A Oklahoma City when the rain came Monday night, he entered in the bottom of the 10th of a tie game. The only other Cub run had scored on a Kyle Schwarber solo shot off Erik Goeddel three innings earlier.

Bryant smacked Stewart’s fourth pitch for a triple. Albert Almora Jr. laced his seventh for the winning single. Stewart’s sixth stint in the majors may not last much longer.

Pitching help is on the way. Clayton Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game here Monday, ahead of schedule. He petitioned the Dodgers to start this weekend in New York, but they determined Tuesday he will start Saturday for Oklahoma City instead. That could put him on track to return June 28 at Dodger Stadium, against the Cubs. That would be four weeks from his last start, after which Roberts said it was fair to expect Kershaw to miss “at least a month” with his lower back strain. Kershaw quickly became symptom-free, the team said, so so much for that.

No relief help is as imminent, but given time and good health the Dodgers could move Maeda back to the bullpen, where he has had his best success as a major leaguer. There are options. The Dodgers hope to come back here to attempt more postseason memories, because in a weak National League the Cubs might again be the strongest competition.