The similarities between the two games at Wrigley Field were evident. For the second time in as many days, the Dodgers did plenty of damage against an in-form Cubs starter, only to see things come crumbling down soon after. Ultimately ending up on the losing side of a one-run affair, this time by the score of 7-6 on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

Eleven men reached base, and six came around to score against Matthew Boyd in his six innings of work. Yet, when the Cubs’ starter left the mound, he was not only in line for the win, but also with the quality start secured since half of the runs he allowed were unearned.

Not that long ago, Ben Casparius got ambushed in Los Angeles against these very same Cubs, but this time around, as the opener for the Dodgers, he did his job and then some. Casparius faced the whole Cubs lineup once and retired eight of nine to get the first eight outs of the game

While Casparius was outstanding, the Cubs picked on the other Dodger arms who were a locks to pitch in this one. First, it was Noah Davis becoming the latest victim of Pete Crow-Armstrong as the Cubs’ center fielder took him deep for a three-run shot. Who can blame him, though, when PCA as they like to call him, becomes a mixture of Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. facing the Dodgers. A big leaguer since 2023, Crow-Armstrong doesn’t have more than two homers against any team, but he has four in 10 games facing Los Angeles.

For as dominant as he has looked since his debut, Jack Dreyer finally ran into a bit of trouble. Dreyer was responsible for coughing up a 5-3 lead that the Dodgers had obtained in the middle innings after a two-run shot from Teoscar Hernández.

Dreyer made some good pitches, but the top of the Cubs’ order made him labor, ultimately earning three walks and scoring four runs in his sole inning of work. Those four runs put the Cubs up by a score of 7-5, and the home side would not relinquish that lead, unlike the visitors who had previously gone up 5-3.

While you certainly can’t fault the offense too much when they score six runs, it was the Teoscar Hernández show and not a whole lot else. Hernández was responsible for four of the six RBI for Los Angeles, contributing a two-out two-run double on top of his home run. Andy Pages made it a one-run game with a solo shot in the sixth, but the Cubs’ bullpen, which has not been the most reliable one this season, showed up in a big way.

The silver lining is that Mookie Betts seemed to heat up a bit, going three for five with an extra-base hit. Shohei Ohtani had a few opportunities to put the Dodgers back in this one, but was unable to do so, striking out in the ninth inning.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (6), Andy Pages (4); Pete Crow-Armstrong (5)

WP —Matthew Boyd (2-2): 6 IP, 10 hits, 6 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

LP — Jack Dreyer (2-1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks

Sv — Parker Hodge (1): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

Having wrapped up their scheduled games against the Cubs in the regular season, the Dodgers have a long way back to Los Angeles before opening a three-game set against the Pirates. Friday’s opener (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network) features a fantastic pitching matchup between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Paul Skenes.