Cubs Hand Slumping Dodgers Fourth Straight Loss to Open Series at Wrigley
The Chicago Cubs took advantage of a tired Los Angeles Dodgers club Monday night, opening their marquee series at Wrigley Field with a victory over the defending champions, 10-5.
For the Dodgers, the loss marked a rare fourth consecutive defeat, continuing an uncharacteristic skid for one of baseball’s premier teams.
Los Angeles entered the series after returning from an overseas road trip, dealing with both travel fatigue and a club searching for answers after dropping three straight before arriving in Chicago. The Cubs wasted little time capitalizing.
Chicago played the cleaner game, executed in key situations and kept the pressure on throughout the evening, handing the Dodgers another frustrating loss.
It’s not often the Dodgers find themselves on a four-game losing streak.
With one of the deepest rosters in baseball, extended losing stretches have become increasingly uncommon for the Boys in Blue. Even the best teams, however, go through difficult weeks over the course of a 162-game season.
The Cubs made sure this one continued.
For Chicago, the win serves as another confidence boost as the postseason race continues to heat up. Beating a team of the Dodgers’ caliber always carries extra weight, regardless of the circumstances.
The series is far from over, though.
The clubs meet again Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, where Los Angeles will look to halt its skid before it grows any longer. The Dodgers remain one of baseball’s most dangerous teams, making a bounce-back performance hardly a surprise.
Still, for one night on the North Side, it belonged to the Cubs.
Chicago struck first in what many hope will be one of the best series of the week, while the Dodgers were left searching for a way to end one of their most unusual stretches of the season.
