You get a homer! You get a homer! Everyone gets a homer!
Cody Bellinger, Austin Barnes and Yasiel Puig all homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep over the reigning World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, with a 9-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
The two teams combined for a season-high total of seven home runs on the day, as all 11 runs scored in the game came via the long ball.
"It was billed as a pitcher's duel," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts of the matchup between Jon Lester and Clayton Kershaw. "When you see Lester and Kershaw on the mound, you don't expect the runs that we put up today. Two good guys on the mound, but the bally was flying out of the ballpark today. That's why you play the game and that's what makes this game great."
Willson Contreras kicked off the home run barrage with a solo shot of Clayton Kershaw in the second inning.
Willson Contreras crushes a solo home run to right field in the top of the 2nd inning, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead!!! #ThatsCub pic.twitter.com/wmVUhBQO8K— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 28, 2017
It was Contreras' fifth homer of the season, and the fifth time the catcher had faced Kershaw in his career. He has now hit two homers off the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner.
"They did a good job," said Kershaw of Contreras and all the Cubs hitters against him. "They fouled off a lot of tough pitches, and the mistakes I did make they made me pay for it."
Cody Bellinger responded for the Dodgers in the bottom half of the inning, with his team-leading 10th home run of the season.
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"We talked about what he can and can't do," said Bellinger of his approach against Lester for the first time in his young career. "The first couple pitches he threw me cutters, but then he threw me a slider and I was able to put a good swing on it."
Bellinger belted a curveball from Jon Lester into the bleachers in right-center for a three-run blast that gave the Dodgers the lead.
An inning later, it was the Dodgers' super utility player's turn to take Lester deep as Los Angeles extended their lead to 6-1 on this home run:
Enrique Hernandez drives a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the 3rd inning, padding the lead to 6-1!!! #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/pqwHBVyHX6— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 28, 2017
The bombs continued bursting in air as Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo took Kershaw deep in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Dodgers lead to 6-4.
After striking out Lester to leadoff the inning, Kershaw served up a four-seam fastball to Baez for the Puerto Rican's eighth home run of the season.
Javier Baez smacks a solo home run to left field in the top of the 4th inning, cutting the Cubs' deficit to 6-2!!! #ThatsCub pic.twitter.com/31tG0gC0Pf— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 28, 2017
Two batters later, Rizzo completely crushed a fastball by Kershaw halfway up the seats in right field for a 417-foot blast. According to StatCast, Rizzo's homer exited the park at 109 MPH, the hardest home run hit off Kershaw in 2017.
Anthony Rizzo hammers a two-run home run to right field in the top of the 4th inning, bringing the Cubs within two!!! #ThatsCub pic.twitter.com/6Bn7ersXv8— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 28, 2017
The long ball was also Rizzo's third career home run against Kershaw, tied for second all-time (Adam Dunn – 4).
"I don't know, ask him," Kershaw said grumpily when asked why Rizzo had success against him at the plate over his career.
Kershaw would not last much longer, as the 2014 MVP exited the game with one out in the fifth inning.
Kershaw did not reach the minimum five innings to record the win, instead allowing four runs on a career-high 11 hits, with two walks and six strikeouts in his shortest start of the season.
"I think early on I knew he didn't have his best stuff," said Roberts of Kershaw. "The game never got any momentum. They grinded at-bats and the pitch count rose quickly. It was one of those games where I was just counting outs. Clayton wanted to keep going, but fortunately our bullpen has been lights out."
Kershaw left the game with 1,996 career strikeouts, just four shy of 2,000, a milestone he should reach in Milwaukee in his next start.
"I'm sure he's well aware he's 10 strikeouts away from 2,000, but he's only focused on the first hitter of the game," added Roberts of the nearing milestone. "I think there will be certain times where we sit back and look at the cumulative body of work that Clayton has accomplished and admire it."
After two days of receiving the silent treatment from the Dodgers' pitching, the Cubs bats briefly awoke in the early innings on Sunday, scoring four runs on three homers before closing down shop for the remainder of the game.
"Nobody gave up a run this series but me," said a visibly frustrated Kershaw after the game. "It was a good series for everybody."
Josh Fields (2-0) received the win, as the Dodgers bullpen threw 4 and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in Kershaw's stead. Fields has not allowed a run in 19 of his 21 relief appearances this season and lowered his ERA to 0.84 on the year.
Austin Barnes added an insurance run with a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Austin Barnes hammers a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the 5th inning, extending the Dodgers' lead to 7-4!!! #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/PqHsI9n9M8— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) May 28, 2017
Yasiel Puig put the exclamation point on the sweep by ending an eight-game drought with his ninth home run of the season, a no-doubt shot off Hector Rendon in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"Obviously, I got a good pitch I was able to hit," Puig said in Spanish of his homer. "But up and down, all my teammates did a good job today."
Jon Lester (3-3) took the loss, surrendering a season-high six runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in just 3.1 innings, his shortest start and worst performance of the season.
The victory gave the Dodgers their third sweep of the season as they finished their 10-game homestand going 8-2. It was their first sweep over the Cubs at Chavez Ravine since Aug. 3-5, 2012.
Chicago was swept for the third time this season, and have lost eight of their last ten games away from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
"I don't see any reason to worry," said reigning MVP Kris Bryant. "You have good years, you have bad years. You have good weeks and bad weeks. We're off to an average start. It's not terrible, but we're probbaly spoiled because of the way we started last year."
By comparison, the Cubs were only swept twice all of last season, a year that ended with the team lifting their first World Series trophy in 107 years.
Up Next:
The Dodgers head to the Gateway Arch on Memorial Day as they face the St. Louis Cardinals for the second time in a week. Rich Hill starts for the Dodgers opposite NL ERA leader, Mike Leake for the Redbirds. First pitch is at 11:15 AM PST.
