Enrique Hernandez has been around the Los Angeles Dodgers long enough to know that an extended hot streak Luke Falk Color Rush Jersey , even from a utility player, can lead to regular playing time.

Hernandez hit another homer, Kenta Maeda pitched seven strong innings and the Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Monday night.

Chicago lost its fifth straight, to tie a season high, after getting swept over four games at Cincinnati. The Cubs have scored a combined 13 runs over their past five games.

Hernandez has six home runs, nine RBIs and a .773 slugging percentage over his last 13 games. Hernandez also went deep twice Sunday. He has a career-high 13 home runs, surpassing his 12 from 2017.

A nagging hamstring injury to Chris Taylor – he came off the bench for a pinch-homer Monday – has given Hernandez more chances to deliver of late.

”I would say that getting a little more playing time over these last two, three weeks has definitely helped me to stay sharp,” said Hernandez Authentic Saquon Barkley Jersey , who hit three home runs against the Cubs in Game 5 of last year’s NL Championship Series-clinching victory.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave extended runs to offensive performers like Taylor and Austin Barnes in the second half of last season. Max Muncy has earned at-bats this year with 15 home runs and 32 RBIs.

Hernandez is making a case for himself.

”(Hernandez), on this run for us, has been as valuable, if not more valuable than anybody on our club,” Roberts said.

Maeda (5-4) struck out nine and allowed three singles over seven innings. The Dodgers returned to Los Angeles to open a 10-game homestand after sweeping the New York Mets over the weekend in a three-game series.

As a team, the Dodgers have hit 48 home runs and gone 16-5 in June.

Kenley Jansen gave up deep a sacrifice fly to Javier Baez in the ninth inning before closing out the Cubs for his 20th save.

”We just have to work better at-bats,” manager Joe Maddon said. ”We are chasing way too much. We have to force the pitcher into the strike zone. Once we do that we will be fine.”

Cubs starter Duane Underwood (0-1) made his major league debut, recovering from a 41-pitch first inning to give up just two hits and a run over four innings, with three walks and three strikeouts.

DREAM COME TRUE

Underwood didn’t sweat a 14-pitch duel with Matt Kemp in the first inning – he embraced it. Kemp walked to load the bases Authentic Josh Allen Jersey , but Underwood escaped the jam by retiring Yasmani Grandal on a fly ball to the warning track.

”That was beautiful,” Underwood said. ”For me it was poetry in motion. I loved it going back and forth with the guy. … That was great, especially idolizing the guy growing up. To go one-V-one with the guy was great. Bases loaded, I loved it.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish felt soreness in his troubled triceps tendon after a minor league rehabilitation start Monday. Darvish hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 20 because of right triceps tendinitis. The Japanese ace threw five sharp innings for Class A South Bend. Darvish was set to rejoin the team in Los Angeles on Tuesday to discuss his next steps. … 3B Kris Bryant (sore shoulder), who was out of the starting lineup, is not expected to go on the DL, but is not expected to play Tuesday. … RHP Brandon Morrow (lower back tightness) threw a bullpen and is expected to be activated Wednesday without needing a minor league rehab outing.

Dodgers: Taylor (sore left hamstring) was out of the starting lineup for the fourth consecutive game. … RHP Walker Buehler (right rib microfracture) will throw another bullpen this week that will increase the intensity from his 17-pitch bullpen Sunday, but his return remains undecided. … RHP Pedro Baez (right biceps tendonitis) and LHP Tony Cingrani (left shoulder strain) will throw bullpen sessions this week. … LHP Julio Urias (left shoulder surgery) will throw two bullpens this week, as his fastball is nearing 90 mph http://www.eaglesauthorizedshops.com/authentic-markus-wheaton-jersey , but his return remains undecided.

UP NEXT

LHP Jon Lester (9-2, 2.10 ERA) will try to win his sixth consecutive start and faces the Dodgers for his second consecutive outing. RHP Ross Stripling (6-2, 1.99), who saw his six-start win streak come to an end last week at Chicago, will get another chance to beat the Cubs for the first time in his career.

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Utah has a chance to write one more chapter to an improbable comeback story.

The Jazz put themselves in position to claim the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference after cruising to a 119-79 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Utah did not waste time taking control of the game and led by double digits over the final 3 1/2 quarters.

Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and set an NBA rookie record for 3-pointers. Mitchell went 4 of 5 behind the arc and has made 186 3-pointers this season, breaking Damian Lillard’s record for a first-year player.

”I am actually thrilled for him that he did that,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. ”He has been our guy, offensively, all year who we have relied on. He’s unselfish http://www.texansauthorizedshops.com/authentic-justin-reid-jersey , which makes the guys around him better.”

Derrick Favors added 16 points and nine rebounds. Jonas Jerebko scored 14 points, and Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio added 13 points apiece for the Jazz.

Utah (48-33) won its sixth straight game and went 3-1 in the season series with Golden State. Now the Jazz are tied with Portland in the standings and can claim the No. 3 seed with a win over the Blazers on Wednesday night.

”What makes it a story is no one expected it,” Mitchell said. ”But the thing I’ve said all year is we knew we were going to be good. I don’t think we knew we were going to be 3 seed good, but we knew we were going to be good.”

It is a surprising position for a Utah team that lost last season’s top scorers Gordon Hayward and George Hill to free agency over the summer and was nine games below .500 at one point in mid-January.

The Jazz believed all along they could climb back into the playoff picture and make serious noise in the Western Conference.

”Guys took it upon themselves to just get better in the offseason,” Favors said. ”We just stuck with the plan throughout the whole season and right now we’re fighting for the third spot. Gotta give credit to everybody on this team.”

Even with a loss to the Blazers, Utah is assured of falling no lower than the No. 5 seed.

Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 13 for the Warriors, who finished the season at 58-24. Golden State, the No. 2 seed in the West, never led in the game and shot just 35 percent from the field.

The 40-point loss is the largest margin of defeat for the Warriors under coach Steve Kerr.

”We need the competitive spirit Kareem Martin Color Rush Jersey ,” Kerr said. ”We need the juice. We need the joy, and we haven’t had much of that. So we got to get our minds right.”

Utah dominated on both ends of the court during the first quarter. The Jazz used an 18-3 run to stake out a 24-9 lead. Rubio took a steal in for a layup and Favors scored on a pair of dunks to ignite the run.

Mitchell scored on back-to-back possessions and then followed with a 3-pointer to help push the lead to 33-14. The rookie totaled 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter alone.

Golden State appeared it might rally after Durant scored back-to-back baskets to cut Utah’s lead to 35-22. That’s as close as the Warriors got. Jerebko and Royce O’ Neale combined to score three straight baskets to push the lead to 43-24.

”We got to be better,” Durant said. ”We couldn’t really get a rhythm or a groove out there with the way we go down so early. We started pressing a bit and trying to get it all back at once.”

Utah led by as many as 45 points in the second half. The Jazz took their largest lead at 103-58 when Jerebko buried a pair of 3-pointers and Dante Exum added a dunk to polish off a 10-2 run to open the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Warriors: Thompson and Durant combined to shoot just 14 of 39 from the field. … Golden State scored a season-low 33 first-half points. … The Warriors fell by an average margin of 29.6 points in three losses to the Jazz this season.

Jazz: Utah scored 25 points off 16 turnovers. … The Jazz had a 19-6 edge on fastbreak points and outscored Golden State 62-38 in the paint.

HOODIE STATEMENT

As the Rookie of the Year debate between Mitchell and Ben Simmons continues to heat up, the smack talk is following suit. Mitchell wore a black hoodie into Vivint Smart Home Arena before tipoff on Tuesday that contained the dictionary definition of a rookie on the front.

It offered a lighthearted jab at Simmons’ status as a ”redshirt rookie” after he spent what would have been his original rookie season sidelined with an injury. Adidas approached Mitchell about wearing the hoodie and he went along with the joke.

”We just wanted to all have fun with it,” Mitchell said. ”That’s all it is, having fun and just enjoying it.”

Mitchell reiterated he’s not worried about the award and would rather see Gobert and Snyder earn Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors respectively.

QUOTEABLE

”We need to put things into perspective. When I was a rookie, we only won 23 games. And now some people say winning 58 is kind of a down year. That’s incredible.” -Thompson, on Golden State finishing 58-24 in the regular season.

UP NEXT

Warriors: Will learn their first round opponent on Wednesday.

Jazz: They travel to Portland to face the Blazers on Wednesday.

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