Yoshinobu Yamamoto racked up eight strikeouts and scattered three hits over five innings, and Max Muncy delivered a two-run single to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers past the host Chicago Cubs 4-1 on Saturday.
Yamamoto (1-1) slithered out of bases-loaded jams in each of the first two innings before settling in to retire the final 10 batters he faced to earn his first Major League Baseball victory.
Muncy finished with two hits, as did Miguel Rojas, who added an RBI for Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani and Austin Barnes also had two hits apiece.
Cody Bellinger poked two singles for Chicago, which entered Saturday scoring seven runs per game, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the most in MLB. Miles Mastrobuoni had the Cubs’ lone RBI, while Ian Happ, Yan Gomes and Michael Busch each stroked doubles for Chicago. The Cubs struck out a season-high 15 times and scored their fewest runs in a game this season.
The Dodgers remained patient against a wild-throwing Jose Cuas in the fifth inning to score the game’s first three runs.
Cuas relieved Chicago starter Jordan Wicks, who exited after allowing two singles in the inning, and walked Teoscar Hernandez on four pitches to load the bases for Muncy with two outs.
Muncy watched as Cuas’ fifth-straight ball zipped past Gomes for a wild pitch to plate Barnes and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Muncy widened the lead to 3-0 when he hammered Cuas’s center-cut fastball off the right-field wall for a long two-run single.
Rojas tacked on an RBI bloop single into shallow right in the eighth inning for the Dodgers to make it 4-0.
Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly and Daniel Hudson each worked a scoreless inning in relief of Yamamoto, combining for six strikeouts while allowing two hits.
Evan Phillips surrendered two hits and a walk, along with Mastrobuoni’s RBI groundout, in the ninth inning before striking out Happ with two on to end the game and the Cubs’ five-game winning streak.
Wicks (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking one over 4 2/3 innings. He threw a career-high 100 pitches.
Chicago finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.