LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Cubs got off to a great start late Wednesday night in their bid to pull off a rare three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
But despite leading 2-0 in the first inning and rallying later to tie the game, the Cubs couldn’t hold down the heavy-hitting lineup of the National League West-leading Dodgers, who managed to avoid the sweep with a 10-8 victory at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers blasted four homers — including Shohei Ohtani’s 47th of the season to lead off the game — off Cubs starter Jordan Wicks in a five-run first to erase the Cubs’ early lead, then Gavin Lux singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh after Chicago had scored four runs to erase a 7-3 deficit.
It was still a great series for the Cubs, who scored 24 runs after totaling just two in losing two of three games to the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field over the weekend.
But time is running out on the Cubs’ furious late bid to sneak into the postseason.
With just 16 games left, Chicago (75-71) dropped five games behind the New York Mets for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. The Mets were being no-hit by the Blue Jays through eight innings in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon but rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth to win.
The Mets jumped a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves, who lost to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, for the final NL Wild Card. The Cubs are four games behind the Braves.
Furthermore, the Cubs lost the season series to both the Mets and the Braves, and therefore the tiebreaker. So they’d have to finish at least a game ahead of both to get into the playoffs.
Chicago also remained a distant 8.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, another team they lost the season series with, who are closing in on the NL Central title.
According to FanGraphs’ MLB Playoffs Odds, the Cubs’ chances to reach the postseason dropped to 1.4% as of Thursday morning.
The Cubs are off Thursday before beginning a three-game weekend series Friday night against the Rockies in Colorado.
Ohtani going for 50/50
In addition to hitting his 47th homer, Ohtani also stole his 48th base Wednesday night in his bid to become the first player in MLB history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same season.
Before Ohtani’s heroics, the Cubs built a 2-0 lead in the top of the first off Dodgers starter Bobby Miller. Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger drew back-to-back two-out walks, then Isaac Paredes singled in Suzuki and Michael Busch doubled in Bellinger.
But Ohtani belted Wicks’ fourth pitch of the game 405 feet out to center.
“Every night I feel like he does something that we haven’t seen,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, citing the 118-mph exit velocity with a launch angle of 19 degrees, on Ohtani’s homer. “I feel sorry for the fan that tried to catch it.”
With two outs, Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer, then Will Smith and Max Muncy followed with solo shots for back-to-back-to-back homers off Wicks and a 5-2 lead.
The Cubs got a run back in the top of the third on Suzuki’s 20th homer of the season, then the Dodgers answered with two in the bottom of the third on Ohtani’s two-run single for a 7-3 lead.
But the Dodgers walked 10 batters for the game, including four by Miller. That opened the door for a Cubs rally, and they broke through in the top of the fifth.
Ian Happ singled and Dansby Swanson walked to start the inning. With one out, Bellinger — the 2019 NL MVP with the Dodgers — belted his second homer of the series, a three-run shot to center that pulled the Dodgers within 7-6 and chased Miller.
The Cubs then loaded the bases on two walks by Daniel Hudson and an error by second baseman Chris Taylor, before Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single tied it at 7-7.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and two on, Lux — who hails from Kenosha, Wis., just up the road from Chicago — smacked a first-pitch single to right off Cubs reliever Shawn Armstrong (3-3) to put the Dodgers back ahead, 8-7.
In the bottom of the eighth, the switch-hitting Edman homered for the fourth time in 24 hours. His two-out, two-run shot off Trey Wingenter extended the Dodgers’ lead to 10-7.
Edman’s first-inning homer was from the right side and his eighth-inning homer was from the left, the first time he’s homered from both sides in the same game.
“Tommy is otherworldly these days,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
But the Cubs weren’t done yet.
Trailing by three, they threatened in the ninth. Michael Kopech, traded to the Dodgers from the White Sox at the July deadline, loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Swanson, Suzuki and Bellinger.
Kopech was called for a pitch-clock violation, giving an automatic ball to Paredes, whose sacrifice fly cut Chicago’s deficit to 10-8. But Suzuki was thrown out trying to steal third and Busch, another former Dodger, struck out swinging to end the game, as Kopech eked out his 13th save.
Alex Vesia (3-4) got the win with one inning of relief.
Trainer’s room
Cubs: RHP Porter Hodge saw a doctor after experiencing a racing heartbeat in the ninth inning Tuesday and was cleared. … LHP Justin Steele (tendinitis) threw a bullpen session and will do another one this weekend in Colorado.
Up next
Cubs: RHP Javier Assad (7-5, 3.14 ERA) starts Friday at Colorado.
First pitch at Coors Field is scheduled for 7:40 p.m.