Dodgers’ Adrian Gonzalez gets his first home run in 4-0 win over Cubs

Adrian Gonzalez knew the reception that awaited him. As he walked toward his dugout, moments after squaring up his first homer of 2017, Gonzalez locked eyes with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Gonzalez raised both his hands toward the sky: Hallelujah. Roberts howled in response.

“I think,” Roberts said, “there was a huge weight off his shoulders.”

Inside the dugout, during the sixth inning of a 4-0 victory over the Cubs, the rest of the Dodgers greeted Gonzalez with high-fives and laughter. Yasiel Puig told a ball boy to retrieve the artifact. It had taken him 36 games and 121 at-bats, but Gonzalez had done it, volleying a fastball from Chicago starter Jake Arrieta to the deepest portion of center field. His manager would say later that he had not seen Gonzalez hit a ball that hard in years.

Gonzalez wore the look of relief, not exhilaration. He is a proud player, and he did not plan to wait until May 26 to hit a home run. A few weeks removed from his 35th birthday, Gonzalez has spent his year dealing with ailments to his elbow and back. Earlier this month, he required a stint on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

Since his return on May 18, Gonzalez has hit just .250. But he has supplied five extra-base hits in a seven-game sample, the same number he produced in his first 29 games this year. To turn around a fastball by Arrietta, Gonzalez utilized one of his best swings of the year. His blast capped his team’s seventh victory in nine games.

Alex Wood (6-0, 1.69 ERA) punched out eight as he extended his streak of scoreless innings to 251/3. Chase Utley homered for the second time in two days. Yasmani Grandal drilled his 10th double of the month. And the Dodgers (29-20) swatted aside the team that sent them home last October.

“Top to bottom, in terms of team effort, what a beautiful game,” Wood said.

The Cubs engulfed the sport in 2016. Their quest to end a 108-year championship drought drowned out all else. The Dodgers got caught in the wake. Despite holding a 2-1 lead in the National League Championship Series, they fell in six games.

The Dodgers visited Wrigley Field in April when the Cubs raised their World Series banner. Then Chicago took two of three. Even so, Roberts shook off the suggestion that the Dodgers needed to go through the Cubs to end their own 29-year streak without a title.

“Last year, I felt they were the best team,” Roberts said. “And that’s the way it played out. But this year, I feel we’re a better team. It really doesn’t matter what my thoughts about our two clubs are. It’s about going out there and playing.”

During that April series, Wood made his first start of the season. A blister on Rich Hill’s finger pried Wood free from the bullpen. The Cubs dinged him for two runs in 3 2/3 innings. When Hill’s blister returned later in April, Wood became a mainstay in the rotation. He has not allowed a run since May 2.

Wood did not emerge from obscurity. He posted a 2.78 ERA for the Braves as a 23-year-old in 2014. In four starts before injuring his elbow last May, he struck out 34 batters. He used this winter to synchronize his delivery, and reported to spring training radiating self-assurance. “He’s as confident as any player I’ve ever been around,” Roberts said.

Wood struck out four batters in the first two innings. In the third, he picked off reigning National League MVP Kris Bryant when Bryant tried to steal second base.

Bryant dove around the tag from Corey Seager, and the umpires were initially fooled. As the replay rolled on the videoboard, Utley glanced at the footage and ran into his dugout. There was no reason to wait when the overturn was so obvious.

Utley led off the bottom of the inning by driving a fastball over the center-field fence. The Dodgers stressed Arrieta again in the fourth. Seager took a leadoff walk. Grandal crushed a fastball off the wall in left-center field. Seager sprinted from first and dove across the plate before the throw arrived.

Wood did not allow a Cub to reach third base. His opponent still forced him to expend energy. Wood required 76 pitches to complete four innings. After the fifth, with Wood’s pitch count at 91 and the Cubs due to face him a third time, Roberts opted for his bullpen.

Gonzalez removed some stress in the sixth. He batted with two outs, shortly after Seager reached base for the third time. Gonzalez pushed the count to 3-1.

Then he unloaded on a belt-high fastball. As the ball disappeared from sight, Gonzalez did not dally at the plate. It may have been awhile, but he still knew what to do.

“If I’m healthy, I feel like I can do things,” Gonzalez said.

“If I’m not, I feel like I’m fighting myself more than I’m fighting the pitcher or anything like that. As long as my body keeps feeling better, it’s going to continue to get better.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

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