News » I have to wait til it recovers

CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers have been hitting home runs and scoring runs at enough of a prodigious clip this month that it is rare to see their bats go quiet.

The Dodgers will enter this week’s three-game series against the Chicago Cubs having won seven of their past 10 games. Before they managed just one run in a loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday Deion Sanders Jersey , the Dodgers had averaged 7.15 runs per game and had hit a major-league best 34 home runs in the first 13 games of June.

Although the Dodgers were unable to finish off a series sweep of the Giants in the first game in their past 13 without at least one homer, manager Dave Roberts doesn’t believe that his team has become too homer-happy.

Instead, the Dodgers managed just four hits on Sunday and scored their lone run on an error and they will be looking to rebound Monday at Wrigley Field in the opener of a three-game series with the Cubs in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.

“I don’t think we were over-swinging,” Roberts told reporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t think we’re sitting back and just trying to slug. We’re trying to take good swings, and today the balls didn’t go out of the ballpark.”

Sunday’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak but didn’t in any way diminish the Dodgers’ confidence as they prepare to face the Cubs for the first time since clinching the pennant last fall.

Kenta Maeda will start Monday’s series opener. He is coming off a no-decision in his first start since returning from a hip injury.

Maeda (4-4, 3.61 ERA) had been pitching extremely well before the hip injury on May 29. He had thrown 14 2/3 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in his two previous starts before the injury.

Maeda threw 76 pitches in his return on June 13 against the Texas Rangers when he allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He will make his first career start against the Cubs on Monday.

Like the Dodgers, the Cubs were unable to finish off a series sweep of the rival St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. After scoring 19 runs in the first two games of the series, the Cubs were shut down in a 5-0 loss. But the Cubs have won six of their past 10 games and remain 12 games above .500.

The Cubs will have to wait to know the availability of infielder Javier Baez, who left Sunday’s game with a left elbow contusion after being hit by a pitch. According to the Cubs’ official website, Baez will undergo an X-Ray to confirm there is no further damage.

Baez started Sunday’s game at shortstop in place of Addison Russell.

“(The pitch) got him right in the elbow [url=]Tyler Boyd Jersey[/url] ,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said in an in-game interview with ESPN. “Your hand, it does feel numb at that particular time. He just could not get the feel back. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but for right now it’s going to hurt all night and maybe into tomorrow.”

Tyler Chatwood (3-5. 4.12) will attempt to get on track Monday against the Dodgers. He is seeking his first win since May 11. In his last outing, he allowed four runs in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Chatwood has struggled with walks all season and has at least four in four of his past five outings. He is 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 career starts against the Dodgers.

BOSTON — Their five-game losing streak over, the Seattle Mariners send seven-game winner Marco Gonzales to the mound against Red Sox ace Chris Sale in the deciding game of a three-game series at Fenway Park Sunday.

The Mariners handed Boston left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez only his second loss in 11 decisions with Saturday night’s 7-2 victory and now ask Gonzales to shake off his last start and butt heads with Sale in the finale.

After allowing just six runs in 38 1/3 innings in his previous six starts, Gonzales yielded six and was reached for three home runs in losing to the New York Yankees in the Bronx Tuesday night.

Sale has struck out 30 in 21 innings over his last three starts but is just 1-1 over that span. His team is just 8-8 in his 16 starts and he is 6-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 102 innings in 2018.

The skinny left-hander is 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 10 games, eight starts, lifetime against the Mariners.

Gonzales will face the Red Sox for the first time. Boston is just 9-9 in games started by lefties this season.

Mike Leake pitched eight shutout innings to avenge last Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox and defeat Boston for the first time in his career. Closer Edwin Diaz, who hadn’t pitched in a week, worked a shaky ninth and allowed two runs, but that couldn’t taint the evening for the visitors Emmanuel Ogbah Jersey , who took a 14-10 loss in the opener Friday.

“Unbelievable and really big for our ballclub for him to step up tonight,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Exactly what we needed for someone to shut it down and steady it.”

Said Leake: “When you have a five-game losing streak, yeah, you want to end it.”

The Red Sox, who remained a game behind the losing New York Yankees atop the American League East, fell to 13-2 in Rodriguez’s 5 starts.

While Mookie Betts (illness) was out of the Boston lineup, both teams were without their shortstops Saturday night.

Seattle’s Jean Segura missed his third straight game with an arm infection, had it drained by a Boston doctor Friday and hopes to play Sunday.

“It was bad,” Segura said before Saturday’s game. “It was hurting me, especially when I was swinging. I couldn’t extend my arm. It doesn’t feel right when you swing and feel pinching, like somebody is trying to grab your bat. As a player Eddie Jackson Jersey , you don’t want that feeling.

“If it feels good, I’ll play. But you can’t play around with an infection. I have to wait til it recovers.”

Boston’s Xander Bogaerts, suffered a sprained left index finger diving into second base Friday night and sat out Saturday. He was due for a game off Saturday, anyway, and the hope and Betts will both play Sunday.

“How’s Xander? He’s day to day,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’ll see. (We’ll) probably stay away from him tomorrow. We were looking for an off-day, and it just came up now. Hopefully he’ll be ready to play on Sunday.”

After the game, Cora said he hoped both would be ready to play

“They’re going to show up early tomorrow, see where they at,” Cora said. “So, we’ll go from there.”

The Mariners DJ Chark Jersey , 3-4 against Boston in the last 10 days, remained three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.

The current Seattle roster is hitting a combined .200 against Sale.

Nelson Cruz is 8-for-26 (.308) with two homers and four RBIs against Sale, but Mike Zunino is 0-for-7. Kyle Seager is 1-for-16 (.063), Ryon Healy and Guillermo Heredia both 1-for-6 (.167) and Andrew Romine 3-for-14 (.214).

Triston Casas, the Red Sox top pick in the recent draft, took batting practice in the same group of J.D. Martinez before Saturday night’s game.

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