Dodgers hit 4 homers in 1st, then rally to beat Cubs 10-8. Ohtani homers and steals a base

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin Lux singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied after blowing a 7-3 lead to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-8 on Wednesday night and avoid a series sweep.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 47th home run and stole his 48th base while three other Dodgers went deep in the first inning for the NL West leaders, whose magic number to clinch the division dropped to 11 after San Diego lost at Seattle.

The Dodgers walked 10 batters, including four by starter Bobby Miller.

“It was frustrating again, but it's baseball. Not everything is going to be clicking at the same time,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “We had guys battling up there and it was good to see everyone not giving up.”

Switch hitting Tommy Edman homered for the fourth time in 24 hours. His two-out, two-run shot off Trey Wingenter in the eighth extended the Dodgers' lead to 10-7. He also went deep in the first from the right side and later from the left, the first time he's homered from both sides in the same game.

“Tommy is otherworldly these days,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Trailing by three, the Cubs threatened in the ninth. Michael Kopech loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki and former Dodger Cody Bellinger.

Kopech was called for a pitch-clock violation, giving an automatic ball to Isaac Paredes, whose sacrifice fly cut Chicago's deficit to 10-8. Suzuki was thrown out trying to steal third and former Dodger Michael Busch struck out swinging to end the game as Kopech eked out his 13th save.

Alex Vesia (3-4) got the win with one inning of relief.

The Cubs outscored the Dodgers 16-7 in winning the first two games. They took the season series, 4-2.

The Dodgers blew a lead for the second straight game. They were ahead 3-1 on Tuesday and lost 6-3. After their big first inning Wednesday, they eventually led 7-3 only to watch the Cubs tie it in the fifth.

Will Smith doubled off Shawn Armstrong (3-3) in the seventh and scored on Lux’s single to center, putting the Dodgers back in front, 8-7.

Miller put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole in the first. He gave up back-to-back, two-out walks before Paredes and Busch drove in runs.

The Dodgers answered with four homers in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Ohtani moved closer to becoming the first player in major league history with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. He led off with a 405-foot shot to center and then walked and stole second in the second.

“Every night I feel like he does something that we haven't seen,” Muncy said, citing the 118 mph exit velocity with a launch angle of 19 degrees on Ohtani's homer. "I feel sorry for the fan that tried to catch it.”

After two outs, Teoscar Hernández singled and scored on Edman’s homer into the left-field pavilion on the first pitch. Edman homered twice on two pitches against the Cubs on Tuesday.

Smith followed with a 404-foot shot to nearly the same spot in left. Muncy came up next and sent a towering 401-foot blast to right field on his bobblehead night.

Bellinger hit a three-run shot in the fifth that chased Miller and left Chicago trailing 7-6. The Cubs loaded the bases on two walks by Daniel Hudson and an error by second baseman Chris Taylor before Pete Crow-Armstrong's RBI single tied it 7-7.

Trying to make his case for a postseason roster spot, Miller gave up six runs, including his 16th homer, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander's ERA ballooned to 8.17. He struck out two and walked four, including three with two outs.

“The homers have just been the story every outing now,” Miller said. “I'm going through it right now to say the least. But there's no doubt in my mind that I'm giving it my all every single time.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cubs: RHP Porter Hodge saw a doctor after experiencing a racing heartbeat in the ninth inning Tuesday and was cleared. ... LHP Justin Steele (tendinitis) threw a bullpen session and will do another one this weekend in Colorado.

Dodgers: RHP Tyler Glasnow (tendinitis) will throw at least two innings during a simulated game Friday in Atlanta. ... RHP Joe Kelly (shoulder inflammation) will pitch Thursday and Sunday for Triple-A Oklahoma City before rejoining the team next week.

UP NEXT

Cubs: RHP Javier Assad (7-5, 3.14 ERA) starts Friday at Colorado.

Dodgers: RHP Landon Knack (2-3, 3.00) starts Friday's series opener in Atlanta against RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (5-7, 3.78).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman, left, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Teoscar Hernández also scored. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Chicago Cubs' Cody Bellinger (24) hits a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson also scored. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) stands on second base during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Muncy celebrates after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Will Smith hits a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman celebrates after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Teoscar Hernández also scored. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with Teoscar Hernández (37) after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) waits for a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials in Puerto Rico have rejected a petition to extend a voter registration deadline following an outcry over long lines formed by those seeking to participate in this year’s general election.

The island’s two main parties, the Popular Democratic Party and the New Progressive Party, voted against the request late Monday, as did the alternate president of the elections commission.

Those living in Puerto Rico have until Sept. 21 to register. Members of two other parties, the Puerto Rican Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, which was created in recent years, had requested that the deadline be pushed to a month before the Nov. 5 election amid concerns that people will be locked out of voting.

“Not everyone can come and stand in a kilometers-long line,” said John F. Rullán Schmidt, executive director of a volunteer group called Somos Más, which seeks to promote citizen participation in politics.

He noted how earlier this week, some Puerto Ricans stayed in line until 3 a.m. to ensure they could vote. He warned the group would sue to extend the voter registration deadline if no one else does.

Hundreds of people have stood in daylong lines to register for the election in recent weeks as the U.S. Caribbean territory’s two main parties, which have long dominated the political scene, face stiff challenges from other parties.

“It’s very important to vote,” said Vanessa Casillas, a 56-year-old speech therapist. “Those in the government are not working for the people.”

On Tuesday, she came prepared with a chair and a cap for the sun. The estimated wait at the State Elections Commission was more than two hours when she arrived, but there was still enough seating indoors. Like many Puerto Ricans, she called for the ouster of Luma, a private company that has come under fire for chronic power outages across the U.S. territory, some of which are blamed on another company that oversees electric generation.

Casillas planned to vote for Juan Dalmau, who is running for governor for the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

He faces Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party, Javier Jiménez of the conservative Dignity Project party and Jenniffer Colón of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, who beat current Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in their party’s primary in June. Meanwhile, the Citizen Victory Movement has said it supports Dalmau as gubernatorial candidate.

Dalmau and Ortiz have said they support ousting Luma, while González said she would instead appoint an energy ‘czar’ to oversee the company.

For Felicia Álvarez Capellán, 73, resolving the outages are a priority because she cannot afford a generator or solar panels.

Álvarez, who supports González, said she was surprised at the line Tuesday at the elections commission: “There are too many people. There are no resources.”

As people waited, volunteers outside distributed snack boxes containing a ham-and-cheese burrito and chips.

Rullán said one reason for the long lines is the elimination of 76 of 88 permanent registration boards across the island, as well as fewer employees at the elections commission. In addition, the commission faces a backlog of tens of thousands of electronically registered voters that have not been recorded yet as they await approval.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union noted that chronic power outages also have forced the temporary closure of registration centers as it accused the elections commission of not providing enough resources to handle the surge of people seeking to vote. The ACLU also had called for the registration deadline to be extended.

The electoral commissioner for the Popular Democratic Party, Karla Angleró, said that she voted against extending the deadline, because it would delay other processes, including the printing of ballots, the configuration of voting lists and the recording of more than 90,000 early voting requests.

Despite the ongoing long lines, there were only 62,400 new registered voters by last week, less than half that of 2020. Among those hoping to appear on the list was Dylan Alvira, an 18-year-old university student.

He arrived at the elections commission around noon on Tuesday with two friends, surprised at the line because he figured most people would be at work. He left because he had to get to a quantitative methods class and could not wait the more than estimated two hours to register but promised he would return.

“I will be breathing down their neck,” said Alvira’s friend, Rafael Meléndez, 22, who voted four years ago and urged his two younger friends to do the same this year. “They have to come back.”

People wait at the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The voter registration deadline ends Sept. 21. (AP Photo/Danica Coto)