Jordan Wicks deserved better.
Wicks had matched Yoshinobu Yamamoto pretty well for almost five full innings. Both the Cubs lefty and Dodgers star had pitched themselves in and out of trouble in the early innings, and both had settled down to the point the game was scoreless in the top of the fifth.
Wicks allowed a pair of singles in the fifth, but also struck out two. At 100 pitches, though, he couldn’t be left in to face Teoscar Hernandez.
So Jose Cuas was summoned. As the headline said, he had one job — retire Hernandez and end the inning.