Dodgers walloped by Cubs in long, rainy day at Wrigley Field

The Dodgers were drubbed by the Cubs in the series finale on Sunday at Wrigley Field, and had to wait nearly three hours for the skies to clear and make the loss official. The end result was an 8-1 win for Chicago and a series win for the Cubs.

The game was halted by rain in the bottom of the fourth inning just after the Cubs scored their sixth run, on a play with a throwing error by Miguel Rojas, who started at third base for the first time since September 14, 2020. Rojas’ error was the third committed by the Dodgers infield in the first four innings on Sunday.

The Cubs had runners at the corner with one out in the fourth inning at the time of the delay, with Dansby Swanson due up against Dodgers right-hander Gus Varland, who entered the game in the top of the fourth.

Ryan Yarbrough took over for Varland on the mound once play resumed, after a rain delay of two hours, 51 minutes. Yarbrough, pitching on four days rest after tossing 4⅓ innings in Tuesday’s bullpen game, got 14 more outs on Sunday, allowing only one run.

Gavin Stone labored in his second start of the season, needing 77 pitches to complete three innings. He wasn’t helped by the Dodgers porous infield defense — Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts each made two-out errors to keep innings alive — but Stone was by no means good on Sunday.

He struck out five but also had trouble putting Cubs hitters away, with 15 foul balls against him. Stone walked three, and allowed at least one run in each of his three frames, five runs in total. The big blow came by former Dodger Michael Busch, whose bases-loaded double in the first inning drove in three.

A man without a position with the Dodgers, Busch was traded to the Cubs in a four-player deal on January 11. In this weekend series Busch was 3-for-11 with a walk against his old team with four RBI, including his first home run of the season on Friday.

Cubs starter Shota Imanaga has yet to allow a run in the major leagues. After six scoreless innings in his debut last Monday, he held the Dodgers without a run in four innings on Sunday, with three strikeouts.

Old friend Yency Almonte took over on the mound after the rain delay and picked up the win with a scoreless fifth inning that featured two strikeouts.

After a single by Teoscar Hernández to lead off the second inning, the Dodgers didn’t have another runner reach base until Shohei Ohtani tripled with two outs in the sixth, snapping an 0-for-14 skid. Ohtani’s double in the eighth scored Betts to prevent the Dodgers from getting shut out.

Ohtani has four consecutive two-hit games, with five extra-base hits during that span. In a reminder that the season is still in its infancy, Ohtani in those four games raised his OPS from .631 to .944.

In a game that was decided before the rain delay, Daniel Palencia pitched the final three innings for the Cubs, earning his first career save. Sometimes it’s the little things that really stand out.

Sunday particulars

Home run: Cody Bellinger (1)

WP — Yency Almonte (1-0): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts

LP — Gavin Stone (0-1): 3 IP, 4 hits, 5 runs (1 earned), 3 walks, 5 strikeouts

Sv — Daniel Palencia (1): 3 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Up next

It’s onto Minneapolis for the Dodgers, with James Paxton on the mound Monday against the Twins (4:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Minnesota was rained out on Sunday at home as well, and will have right-hander Bailey Ober on the mound on Monday.