CI Recap (5/27/17) – Dodgers 5, Cubs 0: Shutouts Are Bad, Mmkay

It was game two in Los Angeles for the Cubs and the Dodgers, with John Lackey on the hill for the Cubs in opposition of right hander Brandon McCarthy. The game was on FOX, so I did a lot of yelling at Joe Buck and a lot of laughing at John Smoltz’s fetish with the word firm. So what happened in the events of this sportsball competition?

The answer, at least in the early going, was not very much. For either side. It is worth noting that both Lackey and McCarthy got through three with no hits to open the game. And then, rather unfortunately, Lackey regressed to his mean. As in, his average and not his personality. Although that was also on display when he shared a few words with the home plate ump.

Chase Utley singled in the bottom of the 4th to score Kiké Hernandez to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Lackey walked McCarthy to lead off the 5th and then Chris Taylor yanked a beach ball slider over the leftfield wall and it was 3-0 Dodgers very quickly. But that wasn’t the end of the run-scoring, as Utley hit a bases-loaded single to score two and make the score 5-0.

And the Cubs’ bats did absolutely nothing. Jason Heyward missed a homer by inches early in the game but that was it. They were stifled the entire time. In fact, they only had three hits, one of which was wiped out when Ian Happ tried to stretch a single and was thrown out at second. It was not a good game for the offense.

The Cubs have been choked out by good Dodgers pitching and have been shut out in both games of the series. But hey, they’ve only got to face Clayton Kershaw Sunday.

The Bottom Line

The Cubs can’t hit version 2.o on this Memorial Day Weekend.

Stats That Matter

• Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon struck out five of the six batters they faced, which is always good
• Lackey only allowed one home run, so that’s a small victory.

Up Next

Mr. Kershaw. No. Lester V. Kershaw. It’s a Supreme Court case in the making. Should be fun.