Doug Padilla, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Dodgers invited to a holiday gathering, get roasted

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs appeared to be playing the cordial host on Monday, welcoming the Los Angeles Dodgers in for a holiday celebration -- a spectacular outdoor party in the big city, if you will.

Then they turned nasty on their guests, making them the laughingstock, holding the Dodgers to just one bloop hit in front of an appreciative gathering.

Way back when it was announced that the Dodgers would be playing a nationally televised game in New York on Sunday, the Cubs moved Monday’s game from a 2 p.m. local start to 4 p.m. As it turns out, the Cubs only wanted their guests to be well rested before they devoured them whole.

Without Justin Turner’s high-arcing single in the first inning, which only fell because right fielder Ben Zobrist failed to locate it in the sun quickly enough, the Dodgers could have been held hitless. Making it all the more troublesome was that Cubs starter Jason Hammel left after two innings because of a hamstring cramp.

The Cubs' bullpen knew what to do: Four relievers, led by Travis Wood and his four innings, retired the next 21 Dodgers batters in succession. Seven perfect innings in what became a Monday evening role reversal. With Hammel’s work included, the Cubs retired the final 25 Dodgers batters.

“When you get into their pen that early, you know, we felt pretty good about it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “For us to muster one hit and one walk, I think at one point there were 25 retired straight, obviously tough to score. So yeah, it's just one of those games. We've got [Jake] Arrieta tomorrow. We've got our hands full, but just going out there and putting at-bats together and try to put some hits together.”

Sending the starter to the clubhouse early is the name of the game, and twice in the past three days it has happened for the Dodgers in odd ways. On Saturday in New York, Noah Syndergaard was ejected for throwing at Chase Utley. The Dodgers eventually put together an impressive offensive showing with five home runs, two by Utley himself.

But Monday’s early exit from the starter ended up being the worst possible scenario.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do, get starters out of the game and into the bullpen,” Turner said. “Their bullpen just came in and did a good job today.”

The Dodgers are such the epitome of a .500 team so far this season that they even break even in games when the starter leaves early under odd circumstances. Fixing their on-again, off-again pattern has become the chief priority.

“I think it's just a matter of continuing to persevere and keep going and conduct those consistent at-bats and continue to pitch, which we have been doing, and playing defense, which we have been doing,” Roberts said, when asked how the club can break the cycle. “You've got to give credit to Alex Wood or Travis Wood, or actually both Woods, but Travis Wood. Yeah, he threw well. And then you get into their bullpen. They kept us at bay, but I think we're onto something offensively. I think today was something that we'll turn the page on.”

The early Monday morning travel didn’t help. The Dodgers got to their Chicago hotel sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. In order to compensate for the quick turnaround, the Dodgers didn’t take batting practice, altering their pregame routine.

It makes you wonder what would have happened if the Cubs never bothered to change the starting time for the Dodgers’ benefit.

“Well, we still had time to get ready,” said Carl Crawford, who went 0-for-3. “I don’t know about adapting to the time, but we still had time to get ready. We didn’t prepare like we normally would. We were a little off, but that happens sometimes.”

It’s been happening enough to keep the Dodgers from getting on a consistent winning run.

Maybe things will get better for the Dodgers as this week’s series at Wrigley Field progresses. In series openers on the road, Dodgers pitching has allowed an average of six runs per game. In all other games in a road series, they have given up 3.5 runs per game. Monday’s issue, though, was with getting hits, much less scoring runs.

“It’s just baseball; weird stuff happens,” Turner said. “It’s a four-game series. You still have a chance to win three ballgames.”

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