Chicago Cubs catcher Yan Gomes, right, celebrates after the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman struck out for the final out of the game during the ninth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs won 3-2. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dodgers second baseman Miguel Vargas tags out the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner on a stolen base attempt during the first inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner, left, throws to first base t o complete a double play after forcing out the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman during the first inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor hits a solo home run off of Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly, left, during the third inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor hits a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor, left, heads to first base as he watches the flight of his solo home run off of Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly, center, during the third inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws wide to first base in an attempt to get the Chicago Cubs’ Luis Torrens on a hit that scored Cody Bellinger during the fifth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom, right, hits a solo home run off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias, left, during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom, left, heads to first as he watches the flight of his solo home run off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias, center, during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom celebrates as he rounds first base after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias reacts after giving up a solo home run to the Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom, right, celebrates with third base coach Willie Harris after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom gestures after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, center, congratulates teammate Patrick Wisdom, left, after Wisdom hit a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Bellinger followed with a home run of his own. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, left, hits a solo home run off of Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger watches the flight of his solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger throws his bat in the air after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, right, tosses his bat after hitting a solo home run as Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes stands at the plate during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs won, 3-2, and took two of three in the series. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger rounds third base after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias, center, shows his frustration as he is replaced after giving up back-to-back home runs to the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy, right, shows his frustration after striking out with the bases loaded during the seventh inning of their 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Chicago Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki walks away from the plate after striking out during the ninth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Brad Boxberger throws to the plate during the ninth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Dodgers’ Jason Heyward, left, reacts after striking out as Chicago Cubs catcher Yan Gomes kneels at the plate during the ninth inning on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES — Maybe all the subtractions are beginning to add up.
A lineup that lost Trea Turner, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger over the winter also lost Gavin Lux for the season to a spring knee injury. Now, Will Smith will miss at least a week while dealing with concussion symptoms.
The Dodgers have now lost six of their past nine games, leaving them toggling between .500 or one game over for the past week.
In losing two of three to the Cubs, the Dodgers’ offense topped out at two runs per day and were within one two-out, pinch-hit single (David Peralta’s walk-off winner Saturday) of being swept at home. They batted .168 as a team (16 for 95) with 34 strikeouts in the three games.
“The thing for me is, one through nine, I think we all expect more consistent at-bat quality,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s times where we look really good and put up big numbers and crooked numbers and there are other times when there’s a lot of quick at-bats, a lot of weak contact. (When) you do that, you’re not going to score many runs.”
The offensive woes flowed from the Smith-less top down.
Betts went 3 for 12 in the series, all three hits coming Sunday – a bloop double, a fly ball lost in the sun for a single and an infield single. Freddie Freeman was 2 for 12 and J.D. Martinez 1 for 11. Fresh off his four-homer series by the Bay, Max Muncy stayed hot with a single and another homer on Friday night. But he went hitless the rest of the weekend including a strikeout after the Dodgers pulled within a run and loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh Sunday.
“A few days ago we scored 10 (Wednesday in San Francisco). It’s been kind of all over the place the first 15 days,” Freeman said.
“It’s 15 games in. That’s not fair for a comparison between this year and last year. I feel like we haven’t got going. When we pitch we don’t hit. When we hit, we don’t pitch. It’s just been kind of all over the place the first two weeks. We’ve got six more months.”
Freeman struck out four times, something he hadn’t done in a game since July 2021, including twice on called third strikes. The last one ended the game – and a rough ninth inning for home plate umpire Sean Barber who poured salt on a wounded lineup, calling David Peralta, Jason Heyward and Freeman out on questionable strikes.
“You give them the benefit of the doubt. I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt for 14 years, never been tossed,” Heyward said. “So the first one on 3-1 felt in but I’m like alright, get ready to protect. Then 3-2 felt further (in).
“Back-to-back, I haven’t seen a call like that since Low-A Rome, South Atlantic League.”
While the Dodgers were struggling to solve Cubs lefty Drew Smyly, their starter Julio Urias had a two-hit shutout going through the first four innings Sunday, the Dodgers’ lack of offense causing his only stress. A solo home run by Chris Taylor – a drive projected to travel 408 feet if the left-field foul pole hadn’t intervened – was all the support Urias was given.
The fifth inning would have been more of the same from Urias but rookie second baseman Miguel Vargas bobbled Cody Bellinger’s ground ball. Bellinger stole second and went to third on Yan Gomes’ ground out – which could have ended the inning.
Instead, Bellinger scored the tying run when Luis Torrens dribbled a ball on the grass to the left of the pitcher’s mound. Urias raced over to field it and tried unsuccessfully to throw Torrens out while sliding on the grass.
Cody Bellinger returns, Dodgers’ bats go quiet in loss to Cubs
Two more hits – one when Taylor’s throw to Vargas for a forceout was late – loaded the bases before Urias could finally end the inning.
“Obviously nobody wants to make errors, but it’s just something that happens in the game,” Urias said through an interpreter. “That’s not frustrating. The frustrating part is when they get that hit off you even when it’s weak contact. But I tried to make the best play and I just couldn’t. The frustrating part is when you give up a lucky hit on weak contact.”
Getting essentially five outs (and throwing 31 pitches in the process) seemed to take something out of Urias. With two outs in the sixth, he hung an 0-and-2 cutter to Patrick Wisdom and left a 1-and-0 fastball to Bellinger over the plate for back-to-back home runs that put the Cubs in the lead.
“Probably,” Roberts said when asked if the stressful inning led to Urias’ costly mistakes in the sixth. “I still felt that up until that point, he had two outs and it was 0-2 (to Wisdom) and he didn’t get the ball to the dirt. So, does the extra 15 pitches bleed into that? Maybe.”
Bellinger’s home run proved to be the difference. It was the one-time MVP’s 80th career homer at Dodger Stadium – and the first ‘Belli bomb’ the home crowd found hard to stomach – and the first by a left-handed batter off Urias since Brandon Marsh took Urias deep last July 16.
