LOS ANGELES — Ryan Rolison had not pitched in 10 days when Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell turned to the lefty reliever.
The Cubs needed outs. And in that moment, when everything had been working against the Cubs heading into the sixth inning Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Rolison delivered. He threw three shutout innings and allowed just two base runners, giving the Cubs offense a chance to chip away at a four-run deficit.
The Cubs tallied six runs and eight hits over the final three innings against the Dodgers bullpen to rally for a 6-4 victory for their 10th consecutive win. It represents the Cubs’ longest winning streak since 2016.
“It was just a great team win,” Counsell said. “Ryan Rolison, to me, is the story of the game. … I don’t know if I wasn’t expecting three innings from him . I was hoping to get two innings from Ryan — it’s a day that you win a game, you put your bullpen back in order, and it’s one guy did it really, he did it.”
Alex Bregman delivered his biggest hit in a Cubs uniform, connecting on a game-tying solo home run off Blake Treinen in the eighth. Dansby Swanson provided the dagger in the ninth. His two-run blast gave the Cubs (17-9) their first lead of the night. Right-hander Corbin Martin retired the Dodgers in order for his first save of the season.
Hours after losing another high-leverage reliever — Caleb Thielbar — to the injured list, further depleting the bullpen, the Cubs managed just three hits off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan. They didn’t let their struggles against Sheehan’s electric stuff carry over to the Dodgers bullpen. Swanson’s two-out, two-run triple in the seventh got the Cubs on the board, and Nico Hoerner followed with a single to pull the Cubs within one.
After hearing booing from Dodgers fans all night, continuing the trend from his Houston Astros days, Bregman took an 0-1 sweeper on the outside edge and pulled it over the left-field wall to lead off the eighth.
Stellar defense in the bottom of the seventh kept the Cubs within a run to set up Bregman’s and Swanson’s heroics. Seiya Suzuki and Hoerner teamed up on a perfectly executed relay to throw out Andy Pages at third as he tried to stretch out a double to open the seventh. On the ensuing play, Hoerner’s instincts and athleticism shined. He barehanded a deflected ball off Michael Busch’s mitt and in one motion threw to the covering Rolison at first for the second out.
“There’s a lot of positives, but I think it shows the heart and the character of this team, and it gives you that feeling of, no matter what the deficit is, you can still come back and win,” catcher Carson Kelly said.
