Sunday was quite the bittersweet way to end a four-game sweep against the Cubs as the Dodgers won 1-0, but lost Hanley Ramirez in the process.
The victory extends their road winning streak to a franchise-high 14 games.
The ballgame between the Dodgers and Cubs seemed to be monopolized by the strong wind in Chicago. Every time it appeared a player got a good rip on a ball, the wind stopped it dead in its tracks.
The Dodgers had more balls that looked like they would leave the yard, but ended up getting caught, than they had actual hits.
In the second inning, Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier drew consecutive walks to lead off the inning. A.J. Ellis then singled to center field to score Ramirez for the only run of the game.
In fact, past the second inning the Dodgers only had one more hit, a double from Andre Ethier in the fourth inning, two walks and a hit by pitch. They kept the Cubs outfield busy though, with 14 pop-up hits.
Stephen Fife got the start for Los Angeles, his first since July 8th when he went on the DL with a shoulder bursitis. He had a good return, in 5.1 scoreless innings he gave up seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
Fife only got out of two innings in order, and he left the game in a bases-loaded one-out situation. Chris Withrow came in and handled the pressure, inducing a fly ball and a ground out to end the inning.
Withrow pitches 1.2 innings and gave up no hits with two strikeouts. J.P. Howell also pitched an inning or hitless relief, and Kenly Jansen came in and slammed the door by striking out the side, in order, for his 17th save of the season.
Now for the news nobody wants to hear. In the seventh inning Hanley Ramirez was tracking down a pop fly that got picked up by the wind, sending him to the third base foul line for the catch. He had too much momentum and took a tumble into the stands for what appeared to be just a great catch, but when he emerged from the seats he was holding his shoulder in pain.
In back-to-back days, the Dodgers have lost the superstars credited with their outstanding turn-around in Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez. On Saturday, Puig took a nosedive into the grass on a fantastic catch, but ended up with a contusion on his left thumb.
The extent of both of their injuries is unknown, Puig is listed as day-to-day and could possibly be in the lineups on Monday in St Louis. Ramirez is scheduled for an MRI Monday to see what is going on with the shoulder, but he said he didn't feel it pop or separate, so he hopes to avoid the DL.
Since Puig's arrival on June 2nd and Hanley Ramirez's return from his second stint on the DL July 3rd they have combined to hit 141-385 with 75 runs scored, 61 RBI, 50 extra base hits, 13 stolen bases and 35 walks. The extent of their injuries is still unknown, but all Dodgers fans can do is hope that they avoid stints on the DL, or else the team will be missing three major cogs of their lineup in Puig, Ramirez and Matt Kemp.
Healthy superstars or not, the Dodgers are headed to St. Louis for a four-game series against the 65-45 Cardinals with Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Ricky Nolasco, and Hyun-Jin Ryu to take the mound.
