Michael Busch went 4 for 5 with a homer and scored three runs, Cody Bellinger had three RBIs including a two-run homer, and the Chicago Cubs beat the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4 on Monday night.
The Cubs' offense broke out for 16 hits — with every player getting at least one — coming off a series loss to the AL East-leading New York Yankees in which they had a combined seven hits and two runs in three games.
Bellinger and Busch gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead with two outs in the first inning against their old team.
Bellinger slugged a first-pitch, two-run homer off Walker Buehler (1-5) that also scored Ian Happ, who singled leading off. The ball traveled 430 feet for his longest homer of the season and drew cheers from Chicago fans in the crowd of 50,495. Busch added an RBI single.
Busch went deep down the left-field line with two strikes in the fourth, extending Chicago’s lead to 4-0.
Kyle Hendricks walked the bases loaded with two outs in the third — when Shohei Ohtani stole his 47th base of the season — but Max Muncy lined out to Busch at first base to end the threat.
Hendricks allowed two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings. Keegan Thompson (2-1) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
Buehler gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
UP NEXT:
Cubs: LHP Shota Imanaga (12-3, 2.99 ERA) combined with two relievers on the 18th no-hitter in franchise history last week against Pittsburgh.
Dodgers: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-2, 2.92) starts Tuesday after missing nearly three months with a rotator cuff strain. He's expected to throw three innings.
Chicago Cubs' Cody Ballinger, left, is congratulated by Dansby Swanson after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
