Dodgers Catch Break, Beat Cubs 1-0 in Rubber Match

Who knew baseball was so much like soccer? 

For nearly three hours the Dodgers and Cubs were deadlocked in a scoreless tie before a routine ground ball could have altered the destiny of the National League West.

Adrian Gonzalez broke the scoreless tie with an RBI fielder's choice that proved to be the difference in the game as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles secured their MLB-leading 13th shutout of the season and survived a six-game homestand against two of the top teams in baseball in the Cubs and Giants. 

"This was playoff baseball," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "When you play very good teams you have to take advantage of every opportunity. We knew we matched up well with this club and we played them toe-to-toe."

After absolutely little offensive action for the first seven innings, the Dodgers loaded the bases for Gonzalez with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Gonzalez hit a grounder to Javier Baez in what appeared to be an inning-ending out, but Ben Zobrist was late to cover second base and Corey Seager won the foot race was on a bang-bang play for the Boys in Blue.

"That was a misexecution," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts who was surprised that Baez threw to second with the slower Gonzalez at the plate. "Javier Baez is a very nice player, but with the shift, the play is at first."

The play was reviewed for nearly two minutes, with replay showing Seager's foot touching the bag a fraction of a second before Zobrist's.

"It was one of those plays that you have to run hard," Seager said. "As soon as I saw he was throwing to second [not first] I knew I had a chance of being safe."

Rookie right-hander Brock Stewart went pitch-for-pitch with four-time All-Star and two-time World Series Champion Jon Lester in just his third career start. 

Stewart allowed no runs on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in five shutout innings while simultaneously recording the first hit of his MLB career. 

"Overall I had a good feel for my stuff and I trusted it," Stewart said of his start. "That's why we play the game to succeed at this level, I'm very blessed."

Stewart sliced a single to left field off Lester in the third inning to give the Dodgers their first base hit of the game, but also another collector's item for the the 24-year-old's big league trophy case.

"It was surreal," Stewart said of getting his first big league hit off Lester. "I was a position player in college. I just hope to be as good as him [Lester] one day."

Lester was electrifying once again for the best team in baseball as the left-hander dominated the Dodgers allowing no runs on three hits with six strikeouts in six scoreless innings.

In his last eight starts since the All-Star Break, Lester is a perfect 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA as he leads the Cubs rotation. 

Kenley Jansen made up for his blown save in the opening game on Friday night recording back-to-back saves on Saturday and Sunday as the All-Star collected his 39^th save, securing the victory.

"I hate the word 'what if,' we came back and beat them twice," Jansen said when asked about the blown save on Friday being the difference in a Dodgers sweep instead of a series win. "We battled against the best team in baseball and found a way to win ballgames."

Andrew Toles was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth inning and advanced to third on an error by Trevor Cahill. Three batters later, he scored the game-winning run on the bizzare play that won it for the Dodgers.

"There was a couple miscues that inning, especially with the Cahill error," Roberts said. "Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of it."

Los Angeles remains two games ahead of the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West after their rivals beat the Braves in a blowout at AT&T Park.

Players of the Game:

Brock Stewart: Five shutout innings.
Jon Lester: Six shutout innings.
Corey Seager: Beat out the throw to second allowing game-winning run to score.

Three Takeaways:

1. To Be The Best, Beat The Best: The Dodgers finish their six-game home stand with a record of 4-2 as they won both series against the Wild Card leading San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs who sport the best record in the Major Leagues. In fact, the Dodgers were arguably one wild pitch away from sweeping Chicago over the weekend. 

Don't look now but the #Dodgers just took 2 out of 3 from both the #Giants and #Cubs! pic.twitter.com/vRW3IM5y1y — Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) August 28, 2016

2. Shut The Front Door: The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the Major Leagues with 13 shutouts, adding another one on Sunday thanks to five scoreless frames from rookie Brock Stewart.

Add one more to this as #Dodgers record their MLB-leading 13th shutout over the #Cubs pic.twitter.com/KyuLolTjHj — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) August 29, 2016

3. Welcome to the Bigs: Brock Stewart made some memorable moments in just his third big league start on Sunday. Stewart matched future Hall of Famer, Jon Lester, pitch-for-pitch on the mound, and then recorded his first big league hit off him in the third inning. 

.@B_Rock_one5's first hit ⚾️. pic.twitter.com/wvFSJ4GDF4 — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 28, 2016

Up Next:

Cubs (82-47): No rest for Chicago as they return home to the Windy city on Monday to host the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dodgers (73-57): Los Angeles has an opportunity to get their offense back on track when they travel to Colorado for a three-game series with the Rockies. Kenta Maeda is expected to be recalled from Arizona and start at 5:40 PM PST.