After a nonideal start to the season, a sweep over the absolutely terrible Miami Marlins was a must! A 2-1 series win over the plus .500 Diamondbacks was a step in the right direction. A series win over the 2018 NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers is saying a lil something. Behind a 7 inning/4 hit/2 run/7 strikeout/114 pitch outing by Jose Quintana, the Cubs took game 1 of the 3 game series against LA at Wrigley Field.
Final Score - Cubs 7 Dodgers 2
Summary- The Cubs jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of 1. #TheVet Ben Zobrist led off the game with a single to left. Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda walked #TheNatural Kris Bryant & #ELMago Javy Baez. After a #BamBam Kyle Schwarber K, #ILLWILL Willson Contreras roped a bases clearing double down the 3rd base line. #DoubleD Daniel Descalso followed that with an rbi 2 bagger to the left field corner that scored WILLY to give the Cubs the 4-0 lead.
The boys in (Cubbie) blue put 2 more on the board in the bottom of 2 when #BigFolks Anthony Rizzo went "oppo" (that opposite field for non baseball nerds) for his 4th HR of the season making it 6-0. The Dodgers got one back in the top of 3 behind a Justin Turner rbi double. #JHey Jason Heyward made a jumping attempt at the left centerfield wall (that looked like he didn't even need to jump for) as the ball hit off of his glove. LAD picked up another run on an rbi ground out by Chris Taylor. Cubs 6 Dodgers 2
#RAKINGSEASON continued for #ELMago in the bottom of 7 as he hit his 7th HR of the season ("oppo") into the right field basket giving the Cubs a 7-2 edge.
The Cubs have won 8 of their last 10 and the pitching has been electric the last 12 starts with an ERA under 2.00.
Player of the Game- #Q Jose Quintana- 7 IP 4 H 2 R 2 BB 7 K on 114 pitches...that's 3 consecutive quality outings and he's only given up 2 runs in his last 21 innings. He goes to 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA on the year.
Play of the Game- Baez hit a ground ball to Dodgers first baseman David Freese in the bottom of 2 on what would've been an unassisted out but when Freese went for the tag, Javy faked him out by juking to the inside of the foul line then dove head first into 1st base turning it into a single. #ELMago at his finest!
Quote of the game- "I had pretty good control and my stuff was working pretty good. I've been throwing the ball well and i'm gonna keep going. I feel great." - Jose Quintana
Next game- 4/24 v LAD #ColeWorld Cole Hamels (3-0) v Walker Buehler (2-0)