CHICAGO — Off the field, the Dodgers’ front office hit a home run at the trade deadline. On the field, Dodgers pitchers have just been giving them up.
In his shortest start of the season, Justin Wrobleski allowed seven runs on four home runs in just 4⅓ innings, putting the Dodgers in a hole on the way to their fourth consecutive loss, 10-5, to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.
The losing streak matches the Dodgers’ longest of the season.
After giving up eight home runs total in his first 16 starts this year, Wrobleski has given up eight in his past two starts, the first time this season the Dodgers have lost two of his starts in a row.
But Wrobleski is not alone on the Dodgers’ pitching staff in suffering from midseason-onset dinger fever. Over the weekend, Dodgers pitchers gave up seven home runs in the three-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox (who still rank 26th in MLB in home runs despite the slugging weekend) and have given up 16 in their past seven games.
It was the Dodgers’ defense that seemed to lag during their slump before the All-Star break. Now it’s the pitching that is buffering.
In their 16 games since the All-Star break, Dodgers pitchers rank second in MLB with 29 home runs allowed (only the Seattle Mariners have given up more).
The Dodgers were the first to reach the Wrigley Field bleachers on Monday, though. After Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages led off the game with back-to-back singles, Tommy Edman lined a three-run home run into the left field seats.
The Cubs caught on quick and turned it into a giveaway day for the fans seated in the left-field bleachers.
Wrobleski left a 1-and-1 fastball to Seiya Suzuki at the top of the zone in the first inning. Suzuki hit it 106.6 mph into those bleachers.
In the second inning, it was a 2-and-2 fastball out over the plate that Kevin Alcantara hit for hit first MLB home run.
In the third inning, Carson Kelly kept the 2-by-2 theme going when he hit the Cubs’ third two-run home run, sending a 1-and-1 slider into the bleachers.
In the fifth, Michael Busch went solo for only the fourth of his 14 home runs this season hit off a left-hander, ending Wrobleski’s night.
The Dodgers won the long-distance contest when Teoscar Hernandez hit a 443-foot drive onto Waveland Avenue in the sixth inning. Hernandez’s third home run in the past five games at least kept the Dodgers in touch, down 7-5. That ended in the bottom of the sixth.
The Cubs scored three times against Edgardo Henriquez and Tanner Scott. Henriquez walked the bases loaded before Scott came in. He got a called third strike on Kelly, but Kelly challenged the call and ABS overturned it, forcing in a run. Two more scored when Busch lined a two-out single into right field.
The Dodgers have been outscored 30-15 during this four-game losing streak.
More to come on this story.