Bobby Miller falters in birthday homecoming as Dodgers lose to Cubs to start trip
Jack Harris April 5, 2024
Friday could have been a birthday to remember for Dodgers pitcher Bobby Miller.
The Illinois native was pitching against his favorite childhood team, the Chicago Cubs.
He had more than 30 friends and family members in attendance at Wrigley Field, most of them clumped together in two rows of seats directly behind home plate.
And after striking out the side in the first inning for a second consecutive game, the 25-year-old right-hander seemed primed to build on his strong start to the 2024 season.
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But then, in the span of 20 disastrous minutes, the storybook afternoon was slowly shattered.
In the Dodgers 9-7 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Miller failed to get through the second inning, giving up five runs in a 43-pitch frame that ended, mercifully, when manager Dave Roberts pulled with him with two outs.
Dansby Swanson started the damage, launching a center-cut 2-and-0 fastball into the bleachers for a solo home run. The Cubs quickly tacked on another, after Michael Busch drew a walk and Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal strung together consecutive singles.
That tied the score at 2-2, erasing the early lead the Dodgers had taken on Teoscar Hernndezs two-run single in the top of the first.
And from there, the Cubs kept piling on.
A third run scored on a wild pitch, with Miller spiking a changeup that catcher Will Smith couldnt corral. Then, with two outs, Sieya Suzuki drove in two more with a double off the right field wall.
With Millers pitch count climbing after hed been a strike away from escaping the frame nine times in his final two at-bats Roberts finally emerged from the dugout.
Just five outs into the game, the manager was forced to turn to the bullpen.
The deficit grew to 6-2 in the third on a solo home run by Michael Busch the former Dodgers prospect the team traded to the Cubs this offseason before the Dodgers mounted a couple of failed comeback attempts.
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In the fifth, the team got back within one after a two-run home run by Shohei Ohtani, his second in as many games, and an RBI double from Will Smith. But then they stranded Smith in scoring position with three-straight strikeouts.
A similar script played out in the seventh, with the Dodgers trailing 9-5 after the Cubs tagged three runs against reliever Michael Grove.
Hernndez drove in a pair of two-out runs with a single to left with four RBIs Friday, he now holds the early MLB lead with 14 this season then took second base with his first steal.
However, James Outman went down looking to retire the side, one of the 12 strikeouts the Dodgers suffered Friday (theyve only topped that total one time previously this year, in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend).
