LOS ANGELES -- With his locker in a cramped corner of the visitors¡¯ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, Carson Kelly moved across the room to chat with reporters on Saturday night. The Cubs catcher held court at a more spacious area reserved for veteran Justin Turner.
Naturally, Turner arrived with a wide grin as Kelly was discussing his part in Chicago¡¯s 16-0 romp over the Dodgers.
¡°You know, you¡¯ve got a locker over there,¡± Turner joked from behind the pack of media. ¡°Guy gets on base five times and he thinks he can take my locker?¡±
Kelly not only helped righty Ben Brown through a dominant six-inning start for the North Siders, but he also launched a pair of home runs as part of the Cubs¡¯ late offensive outpouring. A 2-0 game through six innings erupted to the most lopsided shutout defeat at home for the Dodgers in the long history of their franchise.
¡°The boys came out swinging,¡± said Kelly, who had three hits and a pair of walks. ¡°It just continued to keep going. It was awesome.¡±
Here were three keys to Saturday¡¯s win:
1. Brown¡¯s strong outing
Brown quipped that his plan for Saturday was just to do ¡°the opposite¡± of his previous outing. Kidding aside, the young righty focused on some delivery adjustments and also getting his mentality more into an attack mode against Los Angeles¡¯ potent lineup.
¡°This past week was a grind,¡± Brown said. ¡°What we emphasized is, when my stuff is there, we can get through lineups like that. It definitely is a confidence boost. Honestly for me, just filling up the zone is the biggest confidence boost I need, because I know when I can do that, I can do a lot of really awesome things on the ballfield.¡±
Brown held the Dodgers off the board and ended with five strikeouts with no walks, using his two-pitch mix of a fastball that touched 98 mph and a curve that generated six whiffs. He scattered five hits, but escaped each situation. In his start on Sunday against San Diego, Brown yielded five runs and walked four in just four innings.
¡°Ben just pitched great,¡± Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°On the road, coming off probably one of his more disappointing outings for him, and he completely turned it around and attacked the strike zone. I thought he pitched wonderfully. I¡¯m really proud of him.¡±
2. Busch torments Dodgers
Michael Busch launched a fastball from Dodgers righty Roki Sasaki in the third inning, sending it to deep center field for what had the makings of a grand slam. That prospect came to a crashing halt when Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages made a spectacular leaping catch.
¡°He¡¯s a good player,¡± Busch said. ¡°I played with him for quite a few years. I didn¡¯t want him to do it, so we¡¯re going to have a conversation about that later.¡±
It was a momentary setback in an otherwise outstanding night for Busch, who was once a Pipeline Top 100 prospect in L.A.¡¯s system. The Cubs first baseman belted a solo shot off Sasaki in the second and finished with four hits, including two doubles. His three RBIs gave him 11 in his career against the Dodgers (his most against any one opponent).
Busch now has a .308/.357/.692 slash line in his 10 career games against his former team. He cracked a smile when asked if maybe he should picture a Dodgers logo on every opposing pitcher.
¡°It¡¯s always fun coming back here,¡± Busch said. ¡°Some good memories, good people over there. Always fun playing against them. Whenever you can put together a good night, it¡¯s always fun.¡±
3. Suzuki exits early
Before the Cubs offense poured out 15 runs over the final four innings, there was a concerning moment when designated hitter Seiya Suzuki was pulled for pinch-hitter Miguel Amaya in the fifth. Suzuki exited with right wrist pain -- an injury that first flared when he jammed his hand on a steal of second against the Rangers on Monday.
¡°I was playing through it,¡± Suzuki said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. ¡°And then today, I felt it a little bit. So, I¡¯m just being cautious in getting out of the game.¡±
Counsell described the injury as a ¡°day to day¡± issue for Suzuki, who was 8-for-14 in his previous four games before going 0-for-2 on Saturday. Amaya went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs in place of Suzuki, who was not sure yet if he would need additional time off.
¡°That¡¯s something I need to talk to the doctor and the trainers about,¡± he said. ¡°If it¡¯s something that I can keep playing through it and it doesn¡¯t get worse, that¡¯s fine.¡±