Editorials

Recap: Chase Utley Sparks Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw Shuts Down Cubs

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

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Rizzo tied the game in emphatic fashion with a towering solo home run to center field in the fourth inning. Kershaw responded by getting Starlin Castro swinging to give him seven strikeouts in the game, and retiring Szczur to end the inning. Hammel struck out Crawford and Grandal as he kept the Dodgers off the bases in the bottom of the fourth.



Kershaw struck out two more in the fifth inning as he again retired the Cubs in order. The Dodgers didn’t fare any better, with the bottom of their order failing to come up with a hit as the game went to the sixth tied at 1-1.

Denorfia struck out a second time in the game and Bryant a third time as Kershaw ran his strikeout total to 11 through six innings. An Utley leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth wound up being the undoing of Hammel.

Gonzalez followed with a base hit, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. In his haste to try and throw out Utley, Montero was charged for an error as he threw wide of third base which allowed Utley to score and the Dodgers to take a 2-1 lead.

Hammel threw another wild pitch that allowed Gonzalez to take third, and the Cubs right-hander was removed after walking Turner to put runners on the corners with no outs. Travis Wood entered and got pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke to ground into a double play, though a run did score.

Crawford extended the inning with a two-out single and so did Grandal by drawing a walk. Hernandez cashed in on the opporunity with an RBI base hit up the middle, extending the Dodgers lead to 4-1. For a fourth consecutive inning, Kershaw collected two strikeouts as he worked around a two-out walk to protect the Dodgers’ 4-1 lead.

While only Addison Russell went down swinging in the eighth, the Cubs didn’t have a runner reach base. Kenley Jansen entered in the ninth and converted his 26th save of the season.

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