When the Dodgers arrived in Chicago as the sun was coming up on Monday morning, they knew they were in for a battle with the 37-30 Cubs. They also knew that their record against .500+ teams was not very good so far this season. As such, the absolutely knew that there would be zero margin for error in the four-game series at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. And that’s exactly what they got – four errorless games from their defense.

After dropping the first two games with co-aces Clayton Kershaw (5-5, 3.33 ERA) and Zack Greinke (5-2, 1.70 ERA) on the mound, Dodger fans began to fear the worst – another sweep against a .500+ team. But in the final two games of the series, that flawless Dodgers defense was assisted with an absolutely stellar bullpen – and by stellar, we’re talking zero runs, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts in the final 8.1 innings pitched for a 0.00 ERA. In fact, even though the Dodgers lost the first two games of the series, through the four games the Dodgers bullpen allowed only two runs on seven hits with three walks and nine strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched for an outstanding 1.35 ERA.

In Thursday’s series finale, Dodgers starter Carlos Frias was pitching out of a stretch in all but one of his five innings of work. But in spite of having runners on base in the other four innings, he managed to prevent even one Cubs runner from scoring – thanks to that flawless Dodgers defense who turned two absolutely huge double plays.

The Dodgers turned two double plays on Wednesday night and two more on Thursday afternoon – none bigger than this Callaspo to Kendrick to Turner 5-4-3 DP in the bottom of the third inning on Thursday. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

But hands down, the defensive play of the game – and perhaps the entire series – was the absolutely perfect throw by Dodgers left fielder Alex Guerrero to catcher A.J. Ellis to nail Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan at the plate on a single by Cubs catcher and former Dodger David Ross.

Guerrero’s fourth-inning outfield assist in Thursday’s series finale was his first of the season. It also took the fire out of Joe Maddon’s Cubs.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Throughout the series, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly received a lot of criticism from fans and the media about his handling of the Dodgers bullpen, but it’s hard to argue that in spite of losing the first two games of the series, his overall use of the bullpen was very good. In fact, his decision to bring in closer Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth inning in a non-save situation on Thursday afternoon was pure genius.

Even though his club was leading 4-0, seeing Jansen take the mound undoubtedly removed any hope of a comeback for the Cubs. Jansen didn’t disappoint (well, unless you’re a Cubs fan that is) by retiring the side in order with one strikeout. Jansen remains at 2-0 on the season with 10 saves and a minuscule 0.61 ERA. But even more incredible is the fact that he has struck out 24 without allowing even one walk in his 14.2 innings of work.

Jansen appeared in three of the four games against the Cubs allowing only one hit while striking out two in his 2.2 innings of work. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Although the Dodgers now face two sub-.500 teams – three against the Marlins (.405) and three against the Diamondbacks (.486) – to round out their current 10-game road trip, they best not take either team lightly. There isn’t a Dodger fan alive who isn’t aware of the damage that Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and Dbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt can do to the Dodgers, and you can bet that neither would love nothing more than to do so again.