Even with new pitchers in the Chicago Cubs’ injury-plagued bullpen, the results remained the same.
The Cubs rallied for a 6-4 win on Friday, with their bullpen covering four scoreless innings and holding the Los Angeles Dodgers to two hits.
Chicago takes a 10-game winning streak into the middle game of a three-game road series against the Dodgers on Saturday. It’s the longest winning streak since the 2016 World Series champion Cubs reeled off 11 straight victories that August.
“Nothing is really long-term (with our bullpen injuries),” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “Which we think is a positive in all this. But injuries add up, and we’ve lost a lot of bodies. When that happens, it gets hard to replace them with the same quality. But our guys have done a great job, a heck of a job. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to put together this nice run.”
On Friday, Caleb Thielbar became the latest to join the list of sidelined Cubs’ pitchers when a left hamstring strain landed him on the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Vince Velasquez was called up from Triple-A Iowa. Thielbar is at least the sixth Cubs reliever to land on the IL this season.
“Right now we think it’s on the mild side,” Counsell said about Thielbar’s injury. “He’s had this injury before in 2022, and he thinks this is a less severe version of that. We’ll know more as we get through the week but hope he can (miss) close to the minimum here.”
In a string of moves, infielder Scott Kingery was designated for assignment and third baseman Nicky Lopez rejoined the club after he was acquired from the Colorado Rockies for cash on Thursday. Lopez played in 14 games for the Cubs last season and had one hit in 18 at-bats.
“Nicky has familiarity with the group,” Counsell said. “Familiarity with us. We think that’s helpful.”
Colin Rea (3-0, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Cubs on Saturday. In his most recent outing on Monday, the right-hander was credited with the win. He gave up six hits, one run and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 home victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The 35-year-old has eight career appearances (five starts) against the Dodgers, going 1-1 with a 5.94 ERA.
The Dodgers are expected to start Roki Sasaki (0-2, 6.11 ERA). In four starts, the right-hander has thrown five innings just once.
On Sunday, Sasaki wasn’t part of the decision but gave up seven hits, three runs, walked two and struck out two in 4 2/3 innings in a 9-6 loss at the Colorado Rockies.
“In the long run, I know the things I need to work on,” Sasaki said. “But at the same time, I need to keep making adjustments for the long term. … If I am able to go deeper in games, maybe it will be better.”
After the Dodgers built a 4-0 lead on Friday, starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan left the game after 6 1/3 innings. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk and struck out 10, but the Dodgers’ bullpen could not hold the lead.
In 2 2/3 innings, four Dodgers relievers gave up five runs on seven hits, including a solo home run by Alex Bregman in the eighth and a two-run blast from Dansby Swanson in the ninth.
Los Angeles lost for the fifth time in its last seven games, but manager Dave Roberts downplayed his bullpen’s struggles.
“I don’t concern myself too much about it, ” he said. “These are the guys we have, and they’ve pitched well. They have to continue to go out there and pitch well.”
–Field Level Media
