Cubs 3, Dodgers 2
Travis Wood outdueled Clayton Kershaw while Starlin Castro and Dioner Navarro each had two hits and an RBI as visiting Chicago evened the three-game series.
Wood (8-10) allowed an unearned run on five hits in seven innings to snap a five-start winless streak. Kevin Gregg picked up his 27th save as the Cubs won for the second time in eight games.
Kershaw (13-8) failed to go at least six innings for the first time since April 23 and had a string of 11 straight quality starts come to an end as he surrendered two runs (one earned) on seven hits and three walks in 5 2/3 frames. The left-hander struck out nine and needed 107 pitches to get 17 outs for the first-place Dodgers, whose lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West was reduced to 8 1/2 games.
Chicago broke through against the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner in the third, when Wood led off with a single and eventually came around to score on Navarro’s base hit to left field. Kershaw struck out a pair with two on in the sixth but could not get out of the inning as Castro laced an RBI single to left.
The Dodgers halved the deficit on Juan Uribe’s run-scoring single in the sixth, but a bases-loaded double-play grounder in the seventh pushed across an insurance run for the Cubs. Andre Ethier’s RBI single in the eighth capped the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Los Angeles had gone 18 straight sets without a loss before dropping two of three to the Boston Red Sox over the weekend and will need to win behind Ricky Nolasco in the rubber game on Wednesday to avoid a second straight losing series. … Navarro is 10-for-24 in his last six starts with two home runs and six RBIs. … Dodgers CF Matt Kemp (ankle) ran the bases on Tuesday and will test the injury again on Wednesday before possibly beginning a rehab assignment the following day.