LOS ANGELES – Like a shopper cruising the parking lot for a spot, Justin Wrobleski pulled into the Dodgers’ starting rotation this month only because Blake Snell and Gavin Stone were out.
But Wrobleski has been the Dodgers’ best starting pitcher who doesn’t also moonlight as a DH. The left-hander held the Chicago Cubs scoreless for six innings Sunday afternoon as the Dodgers won 6-0.
With back-to-back wins Saturday and Sunday, the Dodgers took the series from the Cubs, who came to town as the hottest team in baseball with a winning streak that reached 10 games on Friday.
“I think it’s all about starting pitching right now, to be honest with you. I think we’re feeding off of that,” said veteran Miguel Rojas, fresh off leading the Dodgers’ traditional tequila toast following a series victory. “I talked about them a bit right now and how proud we are of the way they’re throwing the ball, giving us an opportunity to get it back together and get the offense going.”
Wrobleski has been on a roll of his own since joining the rotation as the sixth starter this month.
In four starts, Wrobleski has allowed just two runs on 12 hits in 26 innings. In a rotation that has the lowest collective ERA in the majors (2.79), only Shohei Ohtani has been stingier than Wrobleski – and that’s only because one of the two runs Ohtani has allowed in 24 innings was unearned.
“He’s proven he’s a major-league starter because part of it is how many hitters can you take on, can you give your team a chance to win every time you go out there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Wrobleski — who is 4-0 as a starter. “He’s done that time and time again. He’s good in the sense that he gives us the flexibility to put him in the ‘pen if we wanted to which we have done before. Or give him the opportunity to start – which he has excelled at. I feel great every time he takes the mound.
“Yeah, when you lose a multiple Cy Young winner in Snell, to have a guy like that fill in …. It really raises the floor for our starting pitching.”
Rojas recalled talking with Wrobleski early in the year about the young left-hander just wanting “the opportunity to have six or seven starts. Now he’s proving that he’s ready to take the ball every five or six days.”
Wrobleski said he expressed the same desire to pitching coach Mark Prior when they talked during the offseason.
““I think I’ve been saying that. I think I’ve thought that,” Wrobleski said.
“So yeah, that’s a conversation we had. But at the same time, it’s a great opportunity for me. And I don’t take the opportunity lightly. There’s so many guys that would kill to be in this spot that I’m in and have the opportunity to start games here at Dodger Stadium for these fans, and just start games for this team in general. It’s been super, super cool.”
The first two innings Sunday, though, were a slog for Wrobleski. He gave up a leadoff single to Nico Hoerner in the first inning and walked Alex Bregman but came back with two strikeouts and a ground out to strand them both.
In the second, a leadoff double by Michael Busch and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out. Wrobleski struck out Hoerner and got Bregman to ground out, escaping unharmed. The Cubs were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position against Wrobleski in those first two innings.
“I think we were just a little too cute early, trying to be perfect. It’s not him,” Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing said. “We recreated the gameplan downstairs (between innings), and Mark (Prior) kind of let us know, ‘Stay on the attack.’ And I think that really helped us moving forward.”
From there, things were less hazardous. He gave up two singles, walked one more and hit Bregman with a pitch but none of the runners advanced past first base.
“Today there were two stressful innings, a little bit – a lot of it brought on by himself, as far as the walks and things like that,” Roberts said. “But to bear down that first inning and then come back and do the same thing in the second inning, Then after that, he got into a good rhythm and got back to his pitch count.
“But, for a young pitcher to go through stress and be consistent and be able to manage stress, limit damage and things like that, that’s certainly a lot of growth. And it’s just a sign of a really competent pitcher, and he’s done a great job for us.”
Meanwhile, the offense that sparked to life with 12 runs, including three multi-run innings on Saturday, picked up where it left off in the first inning against Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga.
Shohei Ohtani drew a leadoff walk, stole second and went to third when he inadvertently kicked the low throw away during his slide. Three batters later, Andy Pages drove him in with a sacrifice fly.
Kyle Tucker and Rojas followed with back-to-back doubles, Rojas driving in two runs with his.
Imanaga finally escaped by getting a called third strike on Rushing with his 32nd pitch of the first inning. Imanaga course-corrected after that, though. He retired 13 of 15 Dodgers before running into trouble again in the sixth.
A leadoff double by Pages started it. After Tucker drew a walk, Rojas bunted both of the runners into scoring position. Dalton Rushing drove in one run with a single. Another scored on a wild pickoff attempt by Cubs catcher Carson Kelly.
The most positive offensive signs came from Ohtani. He was on base four times in the game with a walk, a single, a double (his first extra-base hit in six games) and a solo home run (his first home run since April 12).
“Really good day for Shohei,” Roberts said. “I think this whole series was good, getting on base, taking his walks. Then obviously the homer to the big part of the field today with the wind blowing in, and he doubled left on left (vs. Imanaga). Sometimes the lefty gets you back on line, being a left-handed hitter. Sometimes that lefty gets you back where you need to be.”