The Chicago Cubs denied the Los Angeles Dodgers’ late comeback attempt on Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep over the World Series champions.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 29th leadoff home run as a Dodger to kick off the game, rising to No. 2 in the Dodgers’ all-time leaderboard. He now only trails Mookie Betts by three homers in that ranking, and will certainly catch up to him if he maintains his spot at the top of the order.
Eric Lauer started the game for the Dodgers, looking to maintain his spotless record since becoming a Dodger, but didn’t do himself any favors, allowing six runs during his four-inning outing.
The Cubs immediately tied the game in the bottom of the first inning, as Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a leadoff homer of his own. They scored two more times in the bottom of the second inning, as Dansby Swanson and Crow-Armstrong both hit RBI doubles to take the lead.
Crow-Armstrong got to Lauer again in the bottom of the fourth, hitting his second home run of the day—this time scoring two runs to make the score 5-1. Lauer allowed a double to Seiya Suzuki immediately after, and Alex Bregman singled him home to further extend the lead.
Lauer exited the game after the fourth inning, and the bullpen held it down for a few frames—though the offense couldn’t get anything going. The Cubs added another run in the bottom of the seventh, as Kyle Hurt allowed a single and a double to kick off the inning, but managed to limit the damage to just one run.
Dodgers Mount Late Comeback
The Dodgers’ offense turned on in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Kyle Tucker and Mookie Betts both recorded singles to kick off the inning. Max Muncy crushed a 413-foot homer to bring them both home—marking the first time the Dodgers had scored since Ohtani’s leadoff home run—to make the score 7-4.
Miguel Rojas kept the party going with a single afterwards, and Ohtani struck again—cutting the lead to one run with his second home run of the day.
LA’s relievers managed to keep the Cubs off the board in the bottom of the eighth, setting up for an interesting ninth inning. Unfortunately, the Dodgers went down in order in the top of the ninth inning, shutting down their late-inning comeback.
The Dodgers hadn’t lost six games in a row since July 2025 before Wednesday, and their current streak marks just the second time they’ve lost six or more games in a row since 2019. They now lead the NL West by just nine games.
The Dodgers get an off day Thursday following the sweep, and will look to sort themselves out against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at 6:40 p.m. PT.
One Response
Maybe could have won this one had Lauer been taken out earlier, which seemed like the obvious thing to do. But, after seeing how Hernriquez was unable to get more than three (four) outs (his limit?) the other night, not sure how they would have gotten innings without bringing in Kyle Hurt earlier and pitching more. With a choice like that, maybe sticking to Lauer was the right call. But again, it smacked of not trying to win, or having no confidence that the team was going to score any runs anyway. Not really fun as a fan.
Still not entirely sure of Dreyer’s role. He has performed very ably overall during his tenure with the Dodgers. How many innings in a game is he good for?