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Spring Training Recap: McCarthy Hit Hard Early, Dodgers Never Recover

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Carl Crawford came to bat with two outs and the tying run only 90 feet away, but struck out on a pitch in the dirt moments after nearly hitting a double down the right field line and the Dodgers trailed, 6-5 at the end of four innings.

Adam Liberatore took over for the Dodgers in the fifth and promptly gave up a one-out double to Soler. Liberatore then showed some athleticism in covering first base on a grounder hit up the first base line that Adrian Gonzalez made a backhanded stop on to prevent a run from scoring.

The Dodgers managed a one-out single courtesy of Gonzalez in the bottom of the fifth against C.J. Edwards, but were otherwise blanked and continued to trail, 6-5. Mike Adams pitched the sixth inning for the Dodgers and was sharp in his second outing as he retired the side in order.

Pederson remained perfect on the day with a one-out single in bottom of the sixth inning that left him a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. The Dodgers would do nothing with the tying run on base however, as Edwards retired the next two batters he faced.

Sergio Santos recorded two strikeouts to the open the seventh inning, successfully completed the 1-3 putout on the first but was unable to do so a second time and his errant throw allowed Alcantara to reach second base. The error cost Santos as Soler hit a two-out RBI single to extend the Cubs’ lead to 7-5.

Santos’ capped the inning off by getting Ross to chase a pitch in the dirt and the pitcher had a not-so-common four-strikeout inning. Pedro Strop walked Chris Heisey with one out on four pitches in the bottom of the seventh and fell behind in the count to Kyle Jensen.

That sparked a visit to the mound from Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio and the right-hander responded by getting Jensen looking. Sweeney hit a two-out single to keep hope alive for a Dodgers rally and Strop’s wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.

Ethier was then caught looking for strike three on a full count and the Dodgers continued to chase the Cubs by two runs. Kiké Hernandez managed a ground-rule double in the bottom of the eighth with one out that was then followed by a pair of Dodger strikeouts.

Kyle Jensen hit a two-out double in the ninth, but the Dodgers were unable to drive him in and fell to the Cubs, 7-5. The loss was the Dodgers’ second of the spring to the Cubs and first in their last seven games.

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