Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (4/12/25): Cubs 16, Dodgers 0 – Cubs Put Up Blockbuster Performance in Hollywood
The Cubs came into Saturday night’s game hoping to respond to a series-opening loss to the Dodgers Friday at Chavez Ravine. Chicago exploded for double-digit runs in the late innings to win huge.
Michael Busch got the scoring going when he had an opposite-field solo home run against highly-touted rookie Roki Sasaki in the 2nd inning. Busch doubled to lead off the 6th inning against Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius and came home to score on a Justin Turner single to make it 2-0 Cubs.
Ben Brown had his best start of the early season for the North Siders, going six scoreless frames against the stacked Los Angeles lineup. Casparius remained in for the 7th inning and Chicago plastered him beginning with a solo home run from Carson Kelly.
The Cubs strung together RBI singles from Miguel Amaya, Busch, and Dansby Swanson to build up a 7-0 advantage. The road team kept the pedal down in the 8th with a two-run single from Kyle Tucker and a two-run homer by Amaya to make it a whopping 11-0 score.
Los Angeles was forced to use infielder Miguel Rojas to finish out the game. Kelly would homer again as Chicago rolled to a epic 16-0 victory. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs were only up by a pair of runs going into the 7th inning, hardly a guarantee against one of the best offenses in baseball. So it was huge to get a lot of insurance to drastically reduce the stress level in the final couple of frames. I don’t think anybody expected them to score nine insurance tallies but no complaints here.
Why the Cubs Won
They were clicking in all aspects Saturday night. Hitting, pitching, and defense were all off-the-charts great in this one.
Stats That Matter
- Brown just demonstrated the kind of talent he has with his performance on Saturday: 6 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 5 K, and 0 BB.
- Busch was robbed of a potential grand slam and still had four hits and three RBI.
- Amaya took over for Seiya Suzuki, who left with wrist soreness, and had three RBIs.
- Ian Happ had a much-needed three-hit game after slumping recently.
- Gage Workman also collected his first career hit against Rojas in the 8th.
- Kelly had a perfect night with three hits, two walks, and three RBI’s.
Bottom Line
During this very difficult stretch of the schedule every win is huge for the Cubs. Avoiding a sweep in Los Angeles is great but this was impressive in it’s own right. The talent level on this roster is noticeably higher than the past couple of seasons. Craig Counsell‘s squad is more than holding its own against very good teams so far this year.
On Deck
The Cubs go for the series win on Sunday Night Baseball starting at 6:05pm CT. Colin Rea is likely to make the start against Tyler Glasnow in a game broadcast by ESPN with radio coverage on 670 The Score.
