Cubs Fall to Dodgers Again, Swept in Tokyo Series

The Chicago Cubs' bats showed a little more life on Wednesday morning after collecting only three hits the previous day, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3, in the Tokyo Series.

Left-hander Justin Steele took the mound for the Cubs to kick things off, looking sharp in the first inning. After allowing a scare with a flyout to Shohei Ohtani on the first pitch, he retired the next two batters on just eight pitches, including one strikeout.

In the next four innings, the Dodgers’ offense showed just how dominant they could be.

After a Will Smith walk and a Max Muncy double off Justin Steele, Cubs catcher Carson Kelly was charged with a passed ball that allowed one run to score. Later in the inning, Dodgers first baseman Enrique Hernández hit a sacrifice fly to score Muncy, making it 2-0.

The Cubs’ offense showed signs of life in the third inning. After Dodgers rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, making his Major League debut, walked the first three batters of the inning, Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker worked a bases-loaded walk to make it a 3-1 game. Unfortunately, that was all they could muster in the inning after having the bases loaded with fewer than two outs.

Second baseman and switch-hitter Tommy Edman continued the scoring in the third inning for the Dodgers, smacking the first home run of the MLB season, giving his team a 3-0 lead. Hernández followed with a two-run homer in the next inning, making it 5-1.

The Cubs scored runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, with Ian Happ driving in a run with a single and Dansby Swanson adding an RBI double. However, the Dodgers hit another home run in the fifth inning—this time a controversial solo shot by Shohei Ohtani—and the Cubs were unable to mount a rally, ultimately losing in a 6-3 final.

Second baseman Jon Berti led all Cubs hitters with three hits, including a run. Dansby Swanson and Keegan Tucker each collected doubles, while Ian Happ, Nick Kelly, and Matt Shaw added singles. Shaw’s hit marked the first of his Major League career.

Steele took the loss for the Cubs, throwing four innings and allowing five hits and five earned runs while walking one and striking out five. Although things didn’t seem to go his way, he did achieve a milestone in his first outing of 2025 by striking out the 500th batter of his career. He spoke to Marquee Sports Network about the accomplishment after the game.