Dodgers’ Brock Stewart stifles Cubs and gets his first major league hit

Jon Lester has two World Series championship rings, and 141 major league victories. Brock Stewart has zero rings and zero victories.

The Dodgers started Stewart against Lester and the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, and the Dodgers won. Stewart, making his third major league start, did not figure in the decision, but he pitched five shutout innings and struck out eight.

On Saturday, fellow rookie Julio Urias gave up one run in six innings, becoming the only Dodgers starter to beat the Cubs in the seven games between the teams this season.

“Each guy is really starting to blossom and grow,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s really no soft landing for these young players.”

The Cubs have the best record in the major leagues. The starter that stifled them on Sunday jumped from Class-A Rancho Cucamonga to double-A Tulsa in April and to triple-A Oklahoma City in June, and since then he is on his third stint with the Dodgers, an organization that is not shy about shuttling players between the majors and minors, even for a day or two.

“I’ve been all over the country, really,” Stewart said. “Those frequent flyer miles are piling up. It’s just part of it.”

Stewart did not get his first major league victory Sunday, but he did get his first major league hit, a single off Lester.

“It’s kind of surreal, to be honest,” Stewart said. “I just hope to be as good as him one day.”

The afternoon would have been more surreal had Stewart beaten his favorite team growing up. He grew up outside Chicago, but as a fan of the Chicago White Sox, so he was delighted to play a part in beating the Cubs.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I’ve never been a big fan of them. I respect the heck out of them. They’re a great team. But I certainly don’t mind seeing them lose.”

Ruiz left out

For the second time in the three days since Carlos Ruiz joined the Dodgers, the team faced a left-handed starter. This time, Ruiz was on the bench.

When the Dodgers traded A.J. Ellis to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ruiz last week, they said that Ruiz could help win games against left-handers. Ruiz entered play Sunday with an .856 on-base-plus-slugging percentage off left-handers, as compared with .616 for Ellis and .803 for Yasmani Grandal, the Dodgers’ starting catcher.

On Sunday, the Cubs started Lester, a left-hander against whom Ruiz is hitless in 14 career at-bats. Roberts said that track record was a secondary factor in the decision to start Grandal over Ruiz.

“He’s a backup catcher,” Roberts said.

Since the Dodgers played a day game Sunday after a day game Saturday, Roberts said there was no need to rest Grandal in favor of Ruiz.

“No one said he’s going to play against every lefty,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers lost on Friday, in Ruiz’s debut, after the Cubs scored the tying run when Ruiz could not handle a cut fastball from closer Kenley Jansen. Ruiz never had caught Jansen, an issue that former Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren referenced when he tweeted that the Ellis trade “makes zero sense.”

Haren further tweeted: “Grandal catches everyday now. If something happened and he got hurt, the Dodgers would be much better off with AJ catching. Even with Grandal healthy, the upgrade is marginal at best. A catcher familiar with the pitching staff is vital.”

On Saturday, as Grandal caught in the game, Ruiz volunteered to catch every Dodgers reliever in the bullpen, so he could become familiar with their pitches. Roberts saluted Ruiz, an 11-year veteran, for his willingness “to humble himself and to educate himself.”

Said Roberts: “That’s something A.J. Ellis would do.”

Short hops

When rosters expand to 40 this week, Roberts said the Dodgers plan to activate relievers Louis Coleman and Casey Fien and call up Austin Barnes as a third catcher. Before anyone could ask about Yasiel Puig, Roberts said whether Puig would be called up in September was “under discussion.” … The Dodgers held their fantasy football draft Sunday. Jansen arrived at Dodger Stadium wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey, and cheese on his head.

[email protected]

Twitter: @BillShaikin