CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers have been hitting home runs and scoring runs at enough of a prodigious clip this month that it is rare to see their bats go quiet.
The Dodgers will enter this week’s three-game series against the Chicago Cubs having won seven of their past 10 games. Before they managed just one run in a loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday Eric Sogard Milwaukee Brewers Jersey , the Dodgers had averaged 7.15 runs per game and had hit a major-league best 34 home runs in the first 13 games of June.
Although the Dodgers were unable to finish off a series sweep of the Giants in the first game in their past 13 without at least one homer, manager Dave Roberts doesn’t believe that his team has become too homer-happy.
Instead, the Dodgers managed just four hits on Sunday and scored their lone run on an error and they will be looking to rebound Monday at Wrigley Field in the opener of a three-game series with the Cubs in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.
“I don’t think we were over-swinging,” Roberts told reporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t think we’re sitting back and just trying to slug. We’re trying to take good swings, and today the balls didn’t go out of the ballpark.”
Sunday’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak but didn’t in any way diminish the Dodgers’ confidence as they prepare to face the Cubs for the first time since clinching the pennant last fall.
Kenta Maeda will start Monday’s series opener. He is coming off a no-decision in his first start since returning from a hip injury.
Maeda (4-4, 3.61 ERA) had been pitching extremely well before the hip injury on May 29. He had thrown 14 2/3 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in his two previous starts before the injury.
Maeda threw 76 pitches in his return on June 13 against the Texas Rangers when he allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He will make his first career start against the Cubs on Monday.
Like the Dodgers, the Cubs were unable to finish off a series sweep of the rival St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. After scoring 19 runs in the first two games of the series Authentic Thomas Vanek Jersey , the Cubs were shut down in a 5-0 loss. But the Cubs have won six of their past 10 games and remain 12 games above .500.
The Cubs will have to wait to know the availability of infielder Javier Baez, who left Sunday’s game with a left elbow contusion after being hit by a pitch. According to the Cubs’ official website, Baez will undergo an X-Ray to confirm there is no further damage.
Baez started Sunday’s game at shortstop in place of Addison Russell.
“(The pitch) got him right in the elbow,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said in an in-game interview with ESPN. “Your hand, it does feel numb at that particular time. He just could not get the feel back. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but for right now it’s going to hurt all night and maybe into tomorrow.”
Tyler Chatwood (3-5. 4.12) will attempt to get on track Monday against the Dodgers. He is seeking his first win since May 11. In his last outing, he allowed four runs in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Chatwood has struggled with walks all season and has at least four in four of his past five outings. He is 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 career starts against the Dodgers.
Shaquille O’Neal is already known by many names. Superman. The Diesel. The Big Aristotle. But he would like to add another to the list: Movie Star.
In ”Uncle Drew,” which opens Friday Ian Thomas Color Rush Jersey , he plays one of the former basketball stars (all of them real pros under heavy old-man makeup) reunited by Kyrie Irving’s titular character (first created for a TV ad) to compete in a street-ball tournament at Harlem’s Rucker Park. Shaq’s character, known as Big Fella, is found running a martial arts dojo.
But post-NBA life has been far more successful for the four-time NBA champion. He’s an analyst on TNT’s ”Inside the NBA,” a popular pitchman and an active entrepreneur and investor. He has dabbled in everything from professional wrestling to law enforcement. He’s even a voice setting on the Waze navigation app. This summer he will tour under the name DJ Diesel.
”Uncle Drew” is just one of the projects that the 46-year-old O’Neal has going. Among his favorites is a TBS show he’s developing with Ken Jeong. Comparing their chemistry to Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, O’Neal says it will be ”`Seinfeld”-epic-ish.”
In an interview, O’Neal spoke about his big plans in Hollywood, why the NBA has gotten soft and where he hopes LeBron James lands this off-season.
AP: What do you miss about playing in the NBA?
O’Neal: I miss all of it. I miss interacting with the fans. I miss having the unexpected adrenaline rush, the doubts Kyle Lauletta Color Rush Jersey , the fear, overcoming the fear. I miss everything.
AP: Do you play anymore?
O’Neal: No, not at all.
AP: How come?
O’Neal: I ain’t got it. Right now, I’m relinquishing all my powers to my son who’s going to UCLA .
AP: That’s a shame. I’d love to see you and Charles Barkley play one-on-one.
O’Neal: Yeah, Charles would lose.
AP: Your post-NBA career has been uncommonly busy. Why?
O’Neal: Seventy percent of all professional athletes have nothing, not even a job, after they’re done. The fact that I couldn’t even call a franchise to get an interview to be a coach frightened me. So nothing was simple. Educate yourself, be nice to people and save your money. If you do that Braden Smith Color Rush Jersey , you should be OK.
AP: You have numerous TV shows and films in development. What are your Hollywood aspirations?
O’Neal: I want to be as big as Rock.
AP: Dwayne Johnson is the biggest movie star on the planet. That’s setting a high bar.
O’Neal: We come from the same place: athletes that transition. That’s my goal. I want similar type movies. I want to get thrillers. I want to get dramas. I want to do comedies. I want to be the next Rock. I want to do a thriller where I’m like a hero and beat up all the bad guys.
AP: It’s been 24 years since your big-screen debut, ”Blue Chips.” Do you feel like a veteran actor?
O’Neal: Well, I have shot 15 movies. I always tell my friends I shot 15 movies but they say, ”Yeah, but if you play Shaq in nine of the movies, that’s not really acting.” I say, ”You make a good point.” I’m just happy to have the opportunity.
O’Neal: I just got done watching ”Justice League.” I thought it was pretty good. But they held Superman out too long.
AP: In vogue in today’s NBA are big men who can shoot from the perimeter . Could you have developed a three-point game?
O’Neal: No, I would have played the same way. Because you can’t score 40 points a night shooting jumpers. Nobody has, nobody will. But you can score 40 points a night shooting 60, 70 percent inside the paint. The fact that guys are shooting jumpers, that’s just telling me they don’t like physical contact. Shooting jumpers is easy. Anybody can shoot a jumper. But can you bang a guy four of five times and then still have enough to score two points for your team?
AP: You think the league has gotten soft.
O’Neal: Of course.
AP: The Lakers are rumored to be a likely landing spot for LeBron James. Do you want that to happen?
O’Neal: I just want the Lakers to be like they were back in the day. I want somebody that can beat Golden State. Golden State has turned into madness. The thing that would make me very excited is if LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard came to the Lakers. Then you’d have problems in the West. Then basketball would be fun again.
AP: Have you ever talked to Kyrie Irving about his flat Earth beliefs ?
O’Neal: No, because I said it too. But I was playing.
AP: You were in make-up for four hours a day for ”Uncle Drew.” How did you pass the time?
O’Neal: Sleep. When I woke up, it still wasn’t done.