Cubs 10, Dodgers 4: Michael Busch bites the hand that once fed him

Michael Busch, whom the Cubs signed from the Dodgers in the winter in exchange for young players Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope, has been in a terrible crisis in recent weeks.

Perhaps Busch's desire to show the Dodgers what they had given up helped him break out of that situation. He hit a home run, had two RBI singles and also hit a double in the Cubs' 10-4 victory over the Dodgers in the first of a three-game series. It was Busch's second four-hit game of the year (also on July 9 in Baltimore).

The Cubs wasted no time scoring against Walker Buehler. Ian Happ opened the game with a single and was forced to second base by Buehler's Vanderbilt teammate Dansby Swanson.

Seiya Suzuki struck, but then Cody Bellinger started a [VIDEO].

The ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

Isaac Paredes, perhaps just coming out of his slump, hit a double to left. Former Dodgers junior player Michael Busch singled to make it 3-0. [VIDEO].

Kyle Hendricks worked the first two innings with ease, then loaded the bases with a single and two walks in the third for Dodgers key players Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Ohtani also had a steal, his 47th.

But Kyle got Max Muncy to hit Busch to end the inning. Busch then opened the fourth inning with a home run, his 17th of the year and first at Dodger Stadium. [VIDEO].

More on Busch's home run from JohnW53 of BCB:

Michael Busch's home run in the fourth inning was the first of his 19 career home runs hit to left field. He hit two as a Dodger and this was his 17th as a Cub.

Hendricks, who walked the tightrope in the third inning, repeated the feat in the fifth, allowing three consecutive hits for the Dodgers' first run and then walking Freeman again to load the bases.

That brought Keegan Thompson into the game. Max Muncy hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2, but Thompson struck out Will Smith to end the inning.

At this stage of his career, Hendricks can throw four decent innings, but don't expect much more than that. In this game, walks got him in trouble – four in all. From BCB's JohnW53:

This was Hendricks' 267th career start. It was only the ninth in which he allowed four batters to walks, and he has never managed more walks. Before this season, he had allowed four walks once, in 5 innings on May 12 at Pittsburgh. The first six times were 2016-18, then he did it once in 2022, also at Pittsburgh.

If Hendricks continues to fill in for Justin Steele while he is (hopefully) only on the injured list for at least 15 days, it would make sense to find someone to back him up after four innings. (Thompson, perhaps?)

In the sixth inning, Cody Bellinger managed a leadoff walk and Isaac Paredes brought Cody to third base with a single.

Bellinger scored Busch’s third goal of the game [VIDEO].

That put Paredes on third base. Unfortunately, he was hit twice when Muncy caught a line drive from Nico Hoerner that bounced in and out of his glove. Paredes had approached the plate too early. [VIDEO].

Fortunately, the Cubs continued their comeback in the sixth inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a single and the Dodgers decided to attack Busch at third base. Busch was safe, but the throw allowed PCA to take second base.

This proved important when Miguel Amaya hit a single and both runners scored [VIDEO].

Despite Paredes' baserunning error, the Cubs turned it into a three-run inning. And Busch obviously likes hitting against the Dodgers, as BCB's JohnW53 reports:

Michael Busch had three RBIs in only one of his 134 previous games: his ninth of the year on April 7 at home against the Dodgers.

Thompson allowed two singles to start the sixth inning, but Dansby Swanson hit a nice double play and a routine fly ball ended the inning.

Drew Smyly came in to throw the seventh and it didn't go well. Shohei Ohtani hit a single and got to second base on a rare error by Bellinger. It didn't matter, though, as Betts hit the ball over the left outfield wall to make it 7-4.

After another walk for Freeman, the Cubs finished the inning with a strikeout, a fly ball and another K.

Did I say “a fly ball”? It was just a little more than that, a pike catch by PCA that might have prevented a really big inning [VIDEO].

With one out in the eighth inning, Busch got his fourth hit, a double to right. He held on to third on a single by Nico and scored on a sac fly by PCA. [VIDEO].

The Cubs extended their lead in the ninth inning. With one out, Swanson hit a single. Suzuki was safe after Gavin Lux fumbled a potential double-play ball. The runners advanced on a double steal and Bellinger's third hit of the game scored Swanson. [VIDEO].

Nico finished third on this hit and scored on a sacrifice fly by Paredes [VIDEO].

Then Busch came to bat and had a chance to get five hits, but his hit landed in foul territory.

With a five-run lead, Craig Counsell sent Ethan Roberts to the mound to finish things off. The 1-2-3 ninth inning featured another defensive gem, this time from Bellinger [VIDEO].

And the Cubs scoring double-digit runs led to another fun fact from BCB's JohnW53:

The Cubs had scored more than 10 runs in just three of their 316 previous games at Dodger Stadium entering Monday night: a 14-4 win in 1984; a 12-10 win in 10 innings in 1966; and an 11-5 win in 2018. They had scored 10 runs in three previous games, in 1978, 1983 and 1999.

With 16 hits, the Cubs have the third most hits of all games at Dodger Stadium.

They had 17 in the 12-10 game in 1966 and 20 in the 14-4 game in 1984.

Whether or not the Cubs pull off some kind of miracle in the playoffs, this was a really nice win against a very good team. The Cubs put together a diverse 16-hit offense and, although they allowed a few runs after taking big leads, they were able to extend the lead and hold on for the win. This game was reminiscent in that respect of the first game of the year between these teams, which took place on April 5 at Wrigley Field and which the Cubs won 9-7. Hendricks was also in the starting lineup for that game.

The Cubs will look for a series win on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. Shōta Imanaga will make his first start since his no-hit performance in the combined showpiece last Wednesday at Wrigley Field. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start for the Dodgers, his first start after missing nearly three months with an injury first described as right forearm tightness and then a rotator cuff strain. Game time is again at 9:10 p.m. CT and television coverage will be provided by Marquee Sports Network. There will also be a national broadcast of the game on TBS (outside the Cubs and Dodgers market areas).