{"id":769424,"date":"2026-08-04T03:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T03:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/769424\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T03:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T03:36:30","slug":"cubs-tee-off-on-justin-wrobleski-as-dodgers-lose-fourth-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/769424\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs tee off on Justin Wrobleski as Dodgers lose fourth straight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CHICAGO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers<\/a> came away from the trade deadline with major wins<\/a> \u2014 a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Tarik Skubal<\/a>, necessary catching depth with Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia<\/a>, and a 2025 All-Star in pitcher Kris Bubic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All of that momentum, and the staggering amount of talent on the roster, have overshadowed the Dodgers\u2019 recent poor play. A clean slate against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field was a chance to set a new tone after being swept by the Boston Red Sox at home. Instead, they lost 10-5<\/a> to open the three-game series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a playoff-contending team,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said of the Cubs before the game. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to play well. Like I said [Sunday], we got outplayed. Outcompeted against. So we need to play better. We\u2019re going to play better this series. I don\u2019t know the results, but we will play with more urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers (69-44) essentially played out that prophecy to begin the game. Against left-hander Matthew Boyd, Shohei Ohtani<\/a> and Andy Pages<\/a> hit back-to-back singles, and Tommy Edman roped a three-run homer to left.<\/p>\n

Then Boyd settled in. He got out of the inning with three straight flyouts \u2014 Cubs fans enthusiastically booing Kyle Tucker, who was never expected to re-sign with the team when he hit free agency after one season in Chicago, when he flied out to right field.<\/p>\n

Dodgers left-handed All-Star Justin Wrobleski struggled. For the second start in a row, he surrendered four home runs.<\/p>\n

The first three came with men on base, expediting the damage. And they came from all over the Cubs\u2019 lineup. In the first inning, No. 2 hitter Seiya Suzuki lined a fastball into the stands for two runs. The next inning, it was No. 9 hitter Kevin Alc\u00e1ntara who put the Cubs (64-49) ahead with a two-run blast. In the third, cleanup hitter Carson Kelly jumped on a slider for a two-run shot.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, right, is tagged out by Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, left, on a pickoff at first base in the second inning Monday.<\/p>\n

(David Banks \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Wrobleski finally threw a hitless fourth, working around a leadoff walk to briefly stymie the Cubs\u2019 offensive push. Then in the fifth, he threw a sinker down the middle to left-handed hitter Michael Busch, who drove it out for a solo homer.<\/p>\n

Busch, a former Dodger, coincidentally is part of the Skubal trade tree. The Cubs acquired him and reliever Yency Almonte for pitching prospect Jackson Ferris and outfield prospect Zyhir Hope. Hope was part of the trade package for Skubal.<\/p>\n

Roberts pulled Wrobleski after Busch\u2019s home run. The seven earned runs he gave up tied a season high. But this time, he only pitched 4\u2153 innings, compared to the 8\u2154 innings he threw against the Atlanta Braves on May 10.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers countered with a one-run rally in the fourth, and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez hit a solo home run onto Waveland Avenue in the sixth inning.<\/p>\n

The Cubs, however, squashed thoughts of a potential comeback with a three-run rally in the sixth against Edgardo Henriquez and Tanner Scott.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers came away from the trade deadline with major wins \u2014 a two-time Cy Young Award winner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,8802,24,161,7880,39,14,2335,1987,3654,1529,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,3354,6086,1479,382,235],"class_list":["post-769424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-busch","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-cubs","tag-dodger","tag-dodgers","tag-game","tag-home-run","tag-inning","tag-innings","tag-justin-wrobleski","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb","tag-no","tag-part","tag-season","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117035151372440398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}