3 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs’ series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, including David Ross’ savvy and Javier Báez stepping up in big moments

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune
·6 min read
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A potential inning-ending double play gone awry nearly cost the Chicago Cubs in extra innings Wednesday.

But Anthony Rizzo’s walk-off single in the bottom the 11th gave the Cubs a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and secured a three-game sweep of the defending champions.

Rizzo’s seventh career walk-off hit served as redemption after a miscommunication between the first baseman and shortstop Javier Báez in the top of the inning. Matt Duffy’s RBI single to center field set the stage for Rizzo after a Tony Wolters walk.

“In that situation obviously hit it where they’re not standing,” Rizzo said. “It worked out this time.”

The Cubs swept the Dodgers in a three-game series at Wrigley Field for the first time since May 26-28, 2008.

The Cubs were set up to get out of the top of the 11th with the game tied. Dodgers outfielder Matt Beaty hit a grounder to Rizzo, who threw to Báez at second base. Báez thought Rizzo stepped on first base and tagged the baserunner, Will Smith, to complete what he thought was a double play. However, Rizzo wanted to keep the force in play at second base and was expecting a return throw to end the inning. Instead, the Cubs got only one out in the sequence, and Max Muncy scored from third to put the Dodgers ahead 5-4.

“That’s just one of those plays that you run in your head before, depending on how hard the ball’s hit and everything to my backside, to my back hand,” Rizzo said. “I knew if I touched the base and went home it would’ve been do or die. So I actually kind of tightroped first base, not touching it purposely to just get the double play 6-3. But I don’t think Javy saw that.

“I probably should’ve been screaming, ‘One, one, one.’ Usually if I step on the bag, you’re yelling, ‘Tag, tag, tag.’ It just didn’t work out.”

Regardless of how it played out, the Cubs recovered for a big win with their second consecutive walk-off victory.

Cubs outfielder Joc Pederson nearly hit a game-winning home run off his former team in the 10th, but his fly ball to right field was caught on the warning track. The sacrifice fly brought home the tying run. An intentional walk to Kris Bryant and Báez brought Willson Contreras to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th, but he hit into a double play.

Coming off a 2-5 road trip, the Cubs’ sweep of the Dodgers moved them within a game of .500. Here are three takeaways from the series.

1. The Cubs show their resiliency in winning a tough series.

On paper, the series pitching matchups did not favor the Cubs. The Dodgers started their three best pitchers — Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer and Walker Buehler — while the Cubs countered with a scuffling Kyle Hendricks, a pitcher making his first MLB start in Keegan Thompson and rookie Adbert Alzolay.

But that’s why they play. The Cubs offense displayed enough timely hitting and the pitching staff kept the Dodgers in check, allowing nine runs over three games. Two of the wins required comebacks, and in Wednesday’s finale, the Cubs didn’t lead until Rizzo’s game-winning hit in the 11th.

“Honestly, we’re riding a roller coaster right now,” Rizzo said after Wednesday’s victory. “We’re up and down, up and down, up and down. The one thing is when we’re down we keep fighting, when we’re up we just keep grinding. For weeks now we’ve been showing on offense we’re going to keep coming back and keep fighting back and keep punching you back. For us offensively, that feels good. We’re never out of it.”

The Cubs must fight their way out of a slow start that saw them go 11-15 in April. Their performance against a team of the Dodgers’ caliber highlighted why there should be some optimism surrounding the group. The Cubs have to build off this sweep, however, and not let the momentum be wasted when they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend.

2. An under-the-radar moment provides a glimpse of David Ross’ managerial savviness.

There are always games within the game, and strategy between the managers came into play at a pivotal moment Wednesday night.

As Matt Duffy stepped stepped to the plate with two outs in 11th, Ross sent outfielder Ian Happ to the on-deck circle for the pitcher’s spot in the order. At that point, Duffy was already 2-for-3 with a double. Ross liked Duffy in that spot against Dodgers left-hander Garrett Cleavinger. The switch-hitting Happ’s presence on deck was a bluff. Ross didn’t want Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to intentionally walk Duffy to face the left-handed hitting Tony Wolters, who was going to pinch hit either way.

Duffy’s first-pitch single tied the game, setting up Rizzo two batters later for the walk-off heroics. Ross revealed afterward that he was trying to stay away from Happ because he is still “pretty banged up” after Sunday’s outfield collision that has kept him sidelined with bruised ribs.

“It worked out, so that was nice,” Ross said. “I don’t know if that’s because I did anything special. Duffy did a nice job of hitting.”

Ross’ tactics might have been overlooked within the moment, but it provided a glimpse into how the still inexperienced manager, with 91 career games on the bench, utilizes in-game tactics and, in the process, outmaneuvered Roberts. While pitching changes/decisions and lineups garner more scrutiny, little moments like the Happ decoy provide insight into Ross as a manager.

3. Javier Báez is hitting his stride at the plate and stepping up in big moments.

There were times Báez was tough to watch offensively the first three weeks of the season when he struggled to hit .200 and was averaging two strikeouts per game.

Báez is finally looking more like himself. He has recorded at least one hit in his last 11 games and stepped up against the Dodgers, getting two late-inning, game-tying hits. Báez delivered a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning Tuesday to make it a 3-3 game before the Cubs went on to win Game 2 of the doubleheader. His ground-ball forceout scored Pederson from third base in the eighth inning Wednesday, tying the game at 3.

Whether it’s a big home run or situational hitting, Báez found ways to have an impact in the series sweep and didn’t let three errors in Game 1 of the doubleheader carry over to the plate.

“It’s the magician, that’s how you describe him, right?” Ross said. “That’s the nickname, he can do a lot of things. Pull tricks out of a hat. He definitely did that (Tuesday) night, huge spark for us, a guy that has been a staple here and put up some really good numbers. And he’s a hard worker. He’s a leader in a lot of ways.”