Cubs Notes: Dodgers Prove Too Much To Handle, But Cubs Display Some Fight

With Sunday afternoon’s 8-5 loss to the Dodgers, the Cubs lost three out of four to the National League West leaders.

Heading into the final week of the season, one might expect the Cubs to pack it in and let the Dodgers roll right over them. But that didn’t happen.

In game 1 of the series, the Cubs knocked out Zack Greinke, an elite pitcher, and if not for a bullpen implosion, could have won the game.

Another star pitcher took the mound against the Cubs in game 2. After falling behind 6-0, the Cubs battled back against sure-thing-Cy-Young-winner Clayton Kershaw, knocking him out after five innings.

On Saturday, “the Chris Coghlan game,” the Cubs overcame a 7-2 deficit in the seventh inning to pick up the win.

In Sunday’s game, Jacob Turner had another not-great start, allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings. But the Cubs kept fighting, and had the tying run at bat (Javier Baez, no less) in the bottom of the ninth. Baez was called out on strikes on a pitch well off the plate, and the Cubs went quietly from there.

I know you don’t get any points for “fighting” or “trying hard” in baseball. But it was good to see from a last-place Cubs club.

Rick Renteria thought so as well, saying after Sunday’s game, “I thought we went toe to toe with them a little bit here. Even as young as we are, I thought we held our own.”

The bottom line is: The Dodgers are just a really good team, and better than the Cubs, especially on offense. The Dodgers put up 53 hits in four games.

Here’s hoping the Cubs will soon in the future be able to win some series like the Dodgers just did.

Other notes

* After being taken out of Saturday’s game in the sixth inning, Jorge Soler was not in the lineup on Sunday. Apparently the Cubs were simply being cautious because of wet field conditions. Really hoping he’ll be back in there on Monday, as I’m going to be sitting in right at Wrigley. I’ll be pretty disappointed if Matt Szczur is once again manning right field.

* It was good to see Welington Castillo back in the lineup on Sunday. He ended up missing only one game with his bruised rib. Castillo hit his 12th homer on the year, a solo shot in the eighth inning.

* Cuba’s next big prospect held a workout in the Dominican Republican on Sunday. Jesse Sanchez reported that all 30 MLB teams were represented at the showcase. Yasmany Tomas, 23, is a right-handed slugger who will likely have a lot of teams interested in him. I expect the Cubs to at least heavily consider adding him to the outfield next season. It should be one of the many off-season stories we will be monitoring closely.