LOS ANGELES _ The "hitless wonders" nickname was bestowed upon the Los Angeles Dodgers half a century ago, when Maury Wills would spin baserunning magic into a run and Sandy Koufax or Don Drysdale would take it from there.
The Dodgers borrowed a page from their history book on Sunday, manufacturing an eighth-inning run for a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth inning to close the four-hit shutout, earning his 39th save.
The Cubs arguably did as much to manufacture the run as the Dodgers did.
With one out and none on in the eighth inning, Cubs reliever Trevor Cahill hit pinch-hitter Andrew Toles. Howie Kendrick followed with a dribbler in front of home plate, and Cahill heaved it over the head of first baseman Anthony Rizzo for an error.
Toles sped to third, Kendrick took second, and the Cubs walked Corey Seager intentionally, loading the bases.
Carl Edwards Jr. relieved Cahill and struck out Justin Turner. Edwards appeared to have gotten the Cubs out of the jam when Adrian Gonzalez grounded to third baseman Javier Baez.
Baez, playing third as regular third baseman Kris Bryant played left field, threw to the wrong base. It would have been easy for Baez to throw to first base, retiring the slow Gonzalez and ending the inning. But Baez threw to second base, and Seager beat the throw, with Toles scoring the game's lone run.
The day was a milestone one for Dodgers rookie pitcher Brock Stewart. He got his first major league hit, a single off Jon Lester, and he got to keep the ball.
He did not get his first major league win, through no fault of his own. He delivered by far the finest of his three major league starts, pitching five shutout innings against the mighty Cubs, striking out eight. The Dodgers removed him for a pinch-hitter, not because the Cubs were mauling him.
The Dodgers did not score while he was in the game. Still, he lowered his earned-run average from 11.25 to 7.94.
