Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger each hit a solo home run, Joc Pederson added a two-run shot and Los Angeles defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-5 on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers improved to 17-6 in June and have slugged a major league-leading 51 homers this month. That’s the second-most during any month in franchise history. With three days remaining, they have a chance to overtake last year’s team that set the record with 53 while the single-season record of 58 in a month is within reach, too.
”It just seems like they’re taking really good swings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. ”When there’s a mistake in the strike zone, we hit it hard.”
The Dodgers hit 25 home runs in late March and April and 31 in May. The current surge is being generated by a variety of players.
”It’s scary facing us,” Bellinger said. ”We’re clicking right now.”
After not homering in a 9-4 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday that snapped their four-game winning streak, the Dodgers got going early despite not having Matt Kemp in the lineup. The outfielder, who is hitting .311, served a one-game suspension after losing his appeal with Major League Baseball for a scuffle with Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos on June 13.
Muncy homered over the center-field wall in the first for his ninth long ball this month and 16th of the season. The ball hit something beyond the wall and bounced back onto the field, grazing center fielder Albert Almora Jr. in the head.
Later in the inning, Yasmani Grandal’s two-run double with two outs gave the Dodgers the lead for good, 3-2.
Pederson followed in the second with his 10th homer of the month to make it 5-2. Enrique Hernandez extended the lead with an RBI single.
Alex Wood (4-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings to earn his third straight win. The left-hander struck out six and walked none [url=http://www.raiderscheapstore.com/derek-carr-jersey-cheap]Derek Carr Jersey[/url] , retiring the final seven batters he faced.
Kenley Jansen earned a four-out save, his 21st of the season.
Chicago made it close after Wood exited. He was replaced in the eighth by Scott Alexander, who walked Jason Heyward and gave up a single to Javier Baez before Willson Contreras hit a two-run double to pull the Cubs to 6-5.
Ben Zobrist grounded back to Alexander, putting the potential tying run on third, but Jansen came in and struck out Addison Russell to end the inning.
”The at-bats had great approaches,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. ”I thought we hit the ball all over the place. Javy hit it to right and right center. Same with Contreras. Good approaches. We played our butts off, we just didn’t get it.”
Bellinger homered leading off the eighth against Randy Rosario, tying Muncy for the team lead with 16 homers and making it 7-5.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (5-8) gave up six runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings, failing to go at least five innings for the first time in 16 starts this season. The team has lost five of his last six starts.
”I’m just searching right now, it’s just bad,” Hendricks said. ”I don’t know mechanics and I’m trying to focus mentally and go pitch-to-pitch. Something is just off. I’ve had troubles in my career, but this is up there as one of the toughest.”
Chicago took the lead in the first on a two-run homer by Contreras.
In the fifth, Heyward reached on an infield single that Wood raced to pick up along the first base line. He flipped to Bellinger [url=http://www.buccaneerscheapstore.com/noah-spence-jersey-cheap]Noah Spence Jersey[/url] , and first base umpire Alan Porter signaled that Heyward was out. But the ball came loose and second baseman Logan Forsythe, backing up the play, fired to the plate. Ian Happ, who singled leading off, was called safe to leave the Cubs trailing 6-3.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: Chicago closer Brandon Morrow (lower back tightness) was activated off the DL. He had been sidelined since June 20 after experiencing back spasms while taking his pants off. … RHP Tyler Chatwood will be available soon. Chatwood has been on paternity leave after his wife gave birth last Sunday.
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (right rib microfracture) will throw three innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday. If it goes well, he will have a bullpen session this weekend and could possibly return to the rotation next week. … INF-OF Chris Taylor (left hamstring) wasn’t in the lineup for the sixth straight day but pinch hit in the seventh and will start on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (6-6, 4.26 ERA) starts the series finale against LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-4, 2.94). Quintana is better on the road (3.22 ERA) than at home (6.00). Making his second start since coming off the disabled list, Kershaw is 5-3 in nine career starts against Chicago with a 2.64 ERA.
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— Two years removed from being a first-round draft pick, receiver Corey Coleman vows he’s got plenty to prove with the Buffalo Bills after falling well short of expectations in Cleveland.
That’s the message Coleman posted on his Instagram account along with a video of him showing off his new Bills No. 19 jersey. And it’s something Coleman repeated following his first practice at Bills training camp Tuesday, two days after being acquired in a trade with the Browns.
“It feels good to be wanted,” said Coleman, wearing a towel around his neck while a steady rain fell. “They have their trust in me. I really don’t want to let them down.”
The Bills are providing Coleman a fresh start after his two-year tenure in Cleveland was beset by injuries and dropped passes. As an indication of how far his stock has fallen [url=http://www.packerscheapstore.com/jake-ryan-jersey-cheap]Jake Ryan Jersey[/url] , Buffalo gave up a 2020 seventh-round pick to acquire the 15th player selected in the 2016 draft.
“A lot of things don’t work out the way you want it to work out,” Coleman said.
“I’ve got much respect for my teammates, man, those guys in the locker room over there in Cleveland are top-notch guys. We have a great fan base in Cleveland, too,” he added. “I’m going to leave it at that.”
If only the Browns and their fans could do the same so easily.
Traded by first-year general manager John Dorsey, Coleman came to symbolize the overall dysfunction of the Browns’ previous regime, which passed on drafting current Eagles starting quarterback Carson Wentz by trading down and selecting the Baylor receiver.
Injuries limited Coleman to playing 19 games, during which he caught 56 of the 131 passes thrown in his direction for 718 yards and five touchdowns. And he will forever be remembered in Cleveland for dropping a pass late in the fourth quarter in last season’s finale at Pittsburgh that sealed the Browns’ 0-16 finish.
“Right, it’s easy to point the finger and stuff,” Coleman said. “Every week in the NFL you see receivers drop a ball, drop a pass. It matters how you respond. And that’s a big thing.”
The Bills took what GM Brandon Beane called “a low-risk” gamble in a bid to address a need at a position that lacks experienced and proven talent behind starter Kelvin Benjamin. Coleman also has the opportunity to provide the Bills’ retooled offense an element of downfield speed to keep opposing defenses from crowding the line to stop the run.
“Look, speed is dangerous [url=http://www.vikingscheapstore.com/brian-robison-jersey-cheap]Brian Robison Jersey[/url] ,” coach Sean McDermott said. “It opens up the defense a little bit for other things. So that element is important.”
As for expectations, McDermott wants to provide Coleman time to learn the playbook and become comfortable with his new teammates and surroundings.
“Can’t wait to watch him really just blossom into the player we believe he can become,” McDermott said.
Coleman practiced on a limited basis Tuesday, and it’s unclear whether he’ll play in Buffalo’s preseason opener against Carolina on Thursday.
He appreciates the amount of catching up he has ahead.
“It’s difficult, you know, but we’ve got great resources here,” Coleman said. “I’m going to work my tail off to come here, do everything I need to do.”
NOTES: McDermott wasn’t prepared to announce who will start at quarterback against the Panthers. Offseason free-agent addition AJ McCarron and returning backup Nathan Peterman have split time with the starters for the first two weeks of training camp, while rookie first-round pick Josh Allen continues to mostly work with the third-string offense. … LB Trent Murphy, an offseason free-agent addition, isn’t expected to play after missing the past week with a groin injury. McDermott expects Murphy to resume practicing next week.
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