The Sports Xchange
May 27, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- Chase Utley and Adrian Gonzalez homered, and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Alex Wood (6-0) tossed a two-hitter with five shutout innings and extended his string of scoreless innings to 25 1/3. Wood struck out eight, walked two and hit a batter. He threw 91 pitches, 59 strikes.
Wood joined teammate Clayton Kershaw (7), Colorado's Antonio Senzatela (7) and Arizona ace Zack Greinke (6) as the only National League pitcher with six or more wins.
Relievers Pedro Baez and Chris Hatcher each worked two hitless innings for the Dodgers (29-20), who improved to 19-8 at home.
Cubs starter Jake Arrieta (5-4) gave up four runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and a walk in six innings.
The Cubs fell to 25-22.
Gonzalez hit a two-run home blast to center, his first long ball of the season, in the sixth off Arrieta to cap the scoring.
Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs.
Utley homered for the second night in a row, smacking a 1-1 pitch from Arrieta into the seats in right-center to lead off the third for a 1-0 Los Angeles edge. That ended Arrieta's scoreless-innings streak against the Dodgers over the past three games at 18.
In the fourth, Yasmani Grandal doubled home Seager, who reached on a walk, for a 2-0 advantage.
NOTES: Joe Maddon was surprised to learn that the 1975 and '76 Cincinnati Reds teams were the last National League clubs to repeat as World Series champs. Maddon said Parity and the grueling major league campaign are among the reasons it hasn't happened again. "I think a lot of that has to do with the length of the season and the playoffs are such a grind, and injuries are such a part of our game," Maddon said. "It's just a different animal." ... INF Mike Freeman and RHP Chris Heston were claimed off waivers by Los Angeles from the Seattle Mainers. Both were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... Cubs RHP John Lackey (4-4, 4.82 ERA) will oppose Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (4-1, 3.76) in the second game of the series on Saturday.