LOS ANGELES — It was Date Night in Dodger Stadium on Friday night, and when the adored home team jumped to an early four-run lead, 53,733 lovebirds probably assumed between appearances on the stadium KissCam that they were about to see the expiration of the Cubs’ winning streak.
Not so fast, Romeo.
With Jameson Taillon saving a battered Cubs’ bullpen, the Gold Glove defenders surpassing their own spectacular standards and the offense erupting with late thunder, the Cubs broke hearts all over Southern California with a 6-4 victory as impressive as any comeback they’ve staged in recent memory.
That’s 10 in a row, and counting.
Dansby Swanson hit a two-run triple and Nico Hoerner whacked an RBI single in a three-run seventh, Alex Bregman hit a game-tying home run that silenced the boos that have dogged him since his days when banging trash-can lids was the rage in Houston, and Pete Crow-Armstrong singled and scored ahead of Swanson’s home run in the ninth.
This, after Hoerner halted a Dodgers’ rally in the seventh, first by cutting down Andy Pages at third with a perfect relay after he tried to take an extra base on right-fielder Seiya Suzuki, then somehow bare-handing a ball that caromed off first baseman Michael Busch’s glove and throwing to Ryan Rolison covering the bag.
Think about the quality of the competition, which answered with some fancy defense of their own after Will Smith’s three-run home run helped build a 4-0 lead after four innings. The Dodgers cut down two Cubs’ base-runners at the plate, Busch in the fourth, and Suzuki in the eighth.
The Dodgers entered the night 17-8, tied with the Padres for first place in the NL West and a half-game behind the Braves (18-8) for the majors’ best record.
The Cubs came in 16-9, tied with the Reds for first in the NL Central.
Four million tickets sold last season, which translates to just under 50,000 fans a night. Back-to-back World Series champs. Five Series appearances in the last nine years, including another title in 2020. Thirteen consecutive seasons of playing in the postseason.
And in a city which draws its oxygen from its celebrities, the Dodgers have the greatest unicorn of them all, Shohei Ohtani, a global phenomenon unlike any this sport has seen since the Great Bambino himself. One man’s opinion: Ohtani is a better two-way player than Babe Ruth. The Babe all but gave up pitching at 23. Ohtani, who turns 32 on July 5, is 2-0 with an 0.38 ERA in four starts, his last start six shutout innings earlier this week in San Francisco.
Into this rarefied air came the Cubs, who owned the longest winning streaks in the big leagues this season.
“That’s obviously pretty impressive,’’ Swanson said. “I mean, the Dodgers’ brand historically is already one of the top and to just see how they’ve kind of propelled it is a pretty neat thing.
“Big stadium, obviously a great team to watch. A team of superstars and good personalities and winning baseball and a championship culture. People wonder how to get fans in the seats — have a good team, right?’’
“We believe in the group we have,’’ Swanson said about what to make of two heavyweights slugging it out so early on the calendar. “We believe in this team.
“We believe in putting out a really great product, every night, day or night. So I mean, yes and no [the Dodgers are a test]. I mean, we want to win. So at the end of the day, we’ve just got to continue to be about our business and our goals. And that doesn’t change depending on who you’re playing, you know?
“Obviously, it’s fun to be able to play games against them.’’
