A pair of pitchers dealing with interrupted seasons will meet Wednesday when the Los Angeles Dodgers face the visiting Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs, who are chasing a sweep of the three-game series, are set to send left-hander Jordan Wicks (2-3, 4.03 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday. The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Bobby Miller (2-4, 7.79).
The Cubs turned three Dodgers errors in the eighth inning Tuesday into five runs and a 6-3 victory, their eighth consecutive on the road. They have scored 16 runs in two games after they had just two total runs during a three-game weekend series against the New York Yankees.
The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are tied for the National League’s final wild-card spot, with the Cubs (75-70) four games behind the pair of NL East clubs. The NL West-leading Dodgers (86-59) saw their lead over the second-place San Diego Padres drop to 4 1/2 games.
Wicks has been on the Cubs’ injured list twice this season, missing time first with a forearm strain in late April then going down in June with an oblique strain. He returned when rosters expanded Sept. 1 and has gone 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts.
Wicks now can pitch the Cubs to their third three-game sweep since Aug. 26. He made his lone career start against the Dodgers on April 6. He gave up two runs over 4 2/3 innings but still ended up with the loss in a 4-1 defeat.
He would appreciate the kind of defense in the outfield that the Cubs delivered Tuesday. Chicago center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made a sliding catch in the gap in right-center field on a ball hit by Enrique Hernandez in the seventh inning, then did the same thing on Shohei Ohtani in the eighth.
Crow-Armstrong saved his best for last, taking a home run away from Max Muncy for the last out of the game.
“That’s what I live for; that’s what gives me joy,” Crow-Armstrong said on the Marquee Sports Network broadcast. “To do it in spots like that, that’s what you go to bed dreaming about.”
Miller has struggled in what was expected to be a breakout season with the Dodgers. The hard-throwing right-hander first went on the injured list in April with right shoulder inflammation, then was sent down four starts after his return.
Miller is on the outside of the Dodgers’ postseason rotation plans, even as the team has struggled to keep starters healthy. In his most recent outing, Miller gave up seven runs on five hits over five innings last Wednesday in a 10-1 loss against the Los Angeles Angels.
His shortest outing in a rough season came April 5 when he gave up five runs on four hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings in his first career appearance against the Cubs.
Tommy Edman hit his first two home runs as a member of the Dodgers on Tuesday. Traded from the St. Louis Cardinals in late July, Edman didn’t make his season debut until Aug. 19 because of injuries.
Muncy also hit a home run Tuesday before he was denied a second by Crow-Armstrong.
“There were a lot of things that happened that led to us not winning a baseball game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “… It was just very uncharacteristic and led to a lot of pitches for Evan (Phillips). It was just a different team that I didn’t really recognize in that eighth inning.”
–Field Level Media