Dodgers Steal Game One of Doubleheader on Farmer’s Pinch Hit Heroics

After the combination of heavy rain and a power outage postponed the Dodgers-Cubs game on Monday, the two teams lived up to the late Cubs great Ernie Banks line ‘let’s play two.’ They played a doubleheader on Tuesday, beginning with a 10 AM/PT matinee at the Friendly Confines.

Scoring

Top First

Dodgers 1, Cubs 0

Los Angeles jumped to an early lead as Joc Pederson hit a leadoff home run to right field on the second pitch of the game. This was his ninth home run of the year and eighth longball of the month.

Starting the day with a #JocPop! #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/xxCpmfTJJu

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 19, 2018

Botton Second

Dodgers 1, Cubs 2

Kenta Maeda struggled in the second inning where he threw 28 pitches. With two outs and the bases loaded, Maeda surrendered a two-run double to Kris Bryant.

A bases-loaded, two-out double from @KrisBryant_23 puts us ahead 2-1 in the 2nd! #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/luXWkLkna2

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 19, 2018

Bottom Fourth

Dodgers 1, Cubs 3

With two runners on and two out, Dave Roberts replaced Kenta Maeda with Adam Liberatore. Liberatore allowed an RBI single to Anthony Rizzo.

.@ARizzo44's two-out single brings J-Hey around to score for a 3-1 #Cubs lead in the 4th! #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/VZA6iCmupE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 19, 2018

Top Sixth

Dodgers 2, Cubs 3

Los Angeles capitalized off of defensive miscues by the Cubs defense in the sixth inning. Chris Taylor hit a triple after Kyle Schwarber misplayed a ball in left field. Yasiel Puig followed with a double on a ball that got lost in the sun between right field and center field.

#Dodgers get one back in the sixth. Chris Taylor triples and @YasielPuig drives him in! Cubs lead, 3-2. pic.twitter.com/UExlhTvo7u

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 19, 2018

Top Ninth

Dodgers 4, Cubs 3

Down to their last strike, Kyle Farmer came off the bench with a two-RBI double. He brought in Austin Barnes and Justin Turner who reached on a walk and single, respectively.

KYLE. FARMER. ? #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/5zudCpMBU1

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 19, 2018

Ejections

Both Matt Kemp and Dave Roberts headed to the locker room early after arguing balls and strikes with umpire Tripp Gibson in the fifth inning. In the ninth, Gibson ejected Yasmani Grandal after an argument on a pitch that Grandal perceived as low.

Starting Pitching Matchup

Throughout Tuesday’s outing, Kenta Maeda proved that he did not have his best stuff. He threw 74 pitches in 3.2 innings and struggled with his command, throwing only 40 strikes.

For the Cubs, Tyler Chatwood also failed to locate his pitches. He walked five batters in five innings but limited his damage to the Joc Pederson home run.

The Bullpen

The bullpen again kept the team in the game despite a short outing by Maeda. The combination of Adam Liberatore, Daniel Hudson, Scott Alexander, Yimi Garcia, Edward Paredes and Kenley Jansen combined to throw 5.1 innings of shutout baseball. For Jansen, he picked up his 18th save of the year.

Analysis

The offense missed several opportunities to capitalize early in the game. They failed to score on the five walks allowed by Chatwood and the Dodgers lineup left a total of 26 players on base. At the end, the Dodgers found a way to stay in the game with their dominant bullpen and capitalize on clutch hitting by Farmer.

The two teams will play game two of the doubleheader at 5:05 PM/PT as Rich Hill returns to the mound for the first time since May 19.