Chase Utley drove in three runs with a pair of two-out singles, and Brandon McCarthy and Ross Stripling combined on a three-hitter that led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-0 defeat of the Chicago Cub
The Chicago Cubs seemed to wake from a season-long slumber before arriving in Los Angeles, slugging 26 homers in their previous 14 games — nine of them wins — and beginning to resemble the 103-win steamroller that ended a 108-year World Series drought last season.
Then they ran into a wood chipper of a Dodgers pitching staff that has ground their offense to a pulp.
Brandon McCarthy did not allow a runner to reach second base in six two-hit innings Saturday, striking out six and walking one, and Ross Stripling gave up one hit in three innings for his first career save in a 5-0 victory over the Cubs at Dodger Stadium .
Chris Taylor’s sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot to left field, highlighted a four-run fifth, and Chase Utley continued his three-week tear with two hits and three RBIs to help the Dodgers win for the eighth time in 10 games.
Saturday’s victory came on the heels of Friday night’s 4-0 win, in which Alex Wood and relievers Pedro Baez and Chris Hatcher combined on a two-hitter. And now the Cubs must face Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball, in Sunday’s series finale.
“I’ ve been on the other side of that, playing the Dodgers, getting shut out and having Kershaw looming, ” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a former San Diego Padres coach.
“Our guys aren’ t getting too high. We know we’ re good, we’ re playing good baseball, and it is definitely nice knowing you have your ace going tomorrow.”
The Dodgers have a major league-best 3.23 ERA and a National League -high 472 strikeouts, and McCarthy, who missed most of the last two seasons because of knee and elbow surgeries, has been a huge factor, improving to 5-1 with a 3.28 ERA this season and 2-1 with a 1.11 ERA in five career games against the Cubs.
“The command of his mix was very apparent, ” Roberts said. “He got in on the lefties, there was life to the fastball in the zone, he had the breaking ball when he needed it, the cutter.”
The right-hander did not give up a hit until Ian Happ’s two-out single to right-center in the fourth. Happ was thrown out by Taylor trying to stretch it into a double. The only other Chicago hit off McCarthy was Addison Russell’s two-out single in the fifth.
McCarthy got through six innings with 79 pitches and was pulled because of some right knee discomfort that Roberts described as “a little tendinitis.”
McCarthy left the stadium to undergo an MRI test and was not available for comment, but the injury does not appear serious.
“It’s something that’s been lingering a bit, ” Roberts said. “After six innings, it was an easy decision to not push it and put him in harm’s way.”
Cubs starter John Lackey did not give up a hit until Enrique Hernandez ’s two-out double in the fourth, giving the Dodgers’ utility player 18 extra-base hits — 14 doubles, one triple and three homers — among his 24 hits this season.
“I guess my pitch selection and plate discipline have been better, ” Hernandez said. “That’s allowed me to lay off some tough pitches, get into better counts and get better pitches to hit.”
Cody Bellinger walked, and Utley, who homered in each of his previous two games, stroked a run-scoring single to left for a 1-0 lead. McCarthy led off the fifth with a walk, and Taylor lined an 83-mph breaking ball over the left-field wall for a 3-0 lead.
Yasmani Grandal singled to center, and Adrian Gonzalez dribbled an infield single to third.
Hernandez grounded into a fielder’s choice, Bellinger walked to load the bases, and Utley pulled a full-count pitch into right for a two-run single and a 5-0 lead.
Utley was batting .098 on May 9. With injuries affording the 38-year-old regular playing time, he’s hitting.354 (17 for 48) with two homers, 12 RBIs and a 1.022 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in his last 16 games, improving his average to .222.
“We know what Chase can do — we were just waiting for him to get out of whatever he was in, ” Grandal said. “He’s been really good for 40 years, so it was great to see him hit home runs on back-to-back days and square the ball up.”
mike.digiovanna@latimes.com
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