Cubs drop finale, but take set from Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- If the Cubs are to keep their slim-yet-extant hopes for the postseason alive, a number of things are going to have to work in their favor over the next few weeks.

They’ve got a couple of teams ahead of them for the third and final NL Wild Card spot; they trail the Mets by five games, while the Braves are one game back of New York. Chicago’s fate depends, in part, on both clubs falling off considerably.

But the Cubs also have to play their best baseball of the season. And though they lost a hard-fought finale against the Dodgers, 10-8, on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, taking two of three from one of MLB’s top teams was a good start.

Starter Jordan Wicks struggled, getting tagged for four homers in a five-run bottom of the first, then allowing another two runs in the third, his final inning of work. The Cubs, however, managed to dig out of that hole, coming back to tie it in a four-run fifth before the Dodgers retook the lead for good against Shawn Armstrong in the bottom of the seventh.

Seiya Suzuki hit his 20th homer of the season, tying his career high set last year, while Cody Bellinger contributed his second homer of the series and sixth in 13 career games against his former team.

The series was yet another strong road showing for the Cubs’ offense, as they compiled 24 runs, surpassing the 17 they totaled in their most recent six-game homestand (in which they put up 12 runs one night against the Pirates but were also shut out three times). They also racked up 33 hits, with Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Isaac Paredes and Pete Crow-Armstrong collecting five apiece.