Walker Buehler pitched a flashy seven innings in his 100th career start, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the faltering Chicago Cubs 7-1 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.
Buehler (4-1), a two-time All-Star who made his major league debut in 2017, improved to 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander allowed just one run on four hits, struck out six and walked two.
Cody Bellinger finished with three hits for Los Angeles and Justin Turner and Freddie Freeman each had a sacrifice fly. Mookie Betts went 2-for-5 as he extended his hitting streak to nine games, a team record.
Chicago lost for the 14th time in 17 games. He only scored three runs on 15 hits in the Dodgers’ three-game sweep.
The Cubs had to modify their rotation after Marcus Stroman was released and then lost Justin Steele to a left hand injury. Stroman was placed on the undesignated injured list, indicating an issue related to COVID-19 may be involved.
Steele (1-4) came in for his first appearance since April 30, but left after five innings with a sore left thumb.
For the Cubs, Venezuelans Wilson Contreras, 3-1 with an RBI and Rafael Ortega, 3-1 with a run scored; and Dominican Jonathan Villar, 3-1.