NLCS GAME 1 Dodgers @ Cubs
Lester Pitching Earlier in 2016
In the top of the second Inning Jon Lester faced Kenta Maeda with two men on, and Maeda just barely got a grounder through the hole between 3rd and short. Ben Zobrist, the left fielder, was able to throw a bullet to David Ross at home throwing out Adrian Gonzalez at the plate ending the top half of the second keeping the score 1-0 Chicago. In the bottom half Jason Heyward hit a leadoff triple. Javier Baez followed with a bloop hit which he turned into a double with incredible hustle into second base and scored Jason Heyward. Javier Baez advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored with a steal of home bringing the Cubs lead to 3-0.
In Lester's third inning of work not much happened but a highlight play by Dexter Fowler when he made a spectacular diving play on a line drive off the bat of Justin Turner. In the Cubs half of the inning Maeda had his first quiet inning apart from a walk from Ben Zobrist.
In the fourth Jon Lester went back to work once again and had a hit saved when Dexter Fowler made another fascinating catch as he dove to his right and towards the outfield wall robbing Carlos Ruiz from extra bases. Maeda seemed to have found his groove in the bottom half of the fourth putting the first two batters down when he walked Jon Lester but followed that with a strikeout of Dexter Fowler.
In the fifth, the defense continued behind Lester as shortstop Addison Russell made a slick play preventing a sinking liner from hitting the dirt. Later in the inning Andre Ethier hit a pinch hit solo home run just over the fence in left/center reducing the Cubs' lead to two. In the bottom half Pedro Baez replaced Kenta Maeda and immediately walked Kris Bryant but followed with a strikeout of Anthony Rizzo, a pop out from Ben Zobrist, and a strikeout of Addison Russell.
In the sixth, defense once again took center stage for the Cubs as Anthony Rizzo snagged a hot ground ball off the bat of Yasiel Puig and flipped over to Lester who covered first to end the top half in a 1,2,3 fashion. Pedro Baez continued to pitch in the sixth inning, giving up a double to Javier Baez who continued his hot streak. Unfortunately for the Cubs they couldn't capitalize on it. All that remained was for Lester to be taken out for pinch hitter, Jorge Soler who grounded out to shortstop Corey Seager ending the inning.
Travis Wood entered the game in the top of the seventh inning and got Adrian Gonzalez to ground out which ended Wood's night. He was replaced by RHP, Carl Edwards Jr. Edwards started off his outing with a quick strikeout of pinch hitter Yasmani Grandal followed by a walk of Enrique Hernandez. Following the walk, Joe Maddon brought in Mike Montgomery to face the powerful Joc Pederson. Montgomery struck out Pederson ending the top of the seventh with no damage done, keeping the game at 3-1. In the bottom half the Dodgers brought in rookie Ross Stripling to face the top of the Cubs order, putting Fowler, Bryant and Rizzo down in order.
With the Dodgers down by 2 in the eighth, Mike Montgomery continued his work from the seventh but immediately gave up a single to pinch hitter Andrew Toles. Maddon once again walked to the mound and called for the righty, Pedro Strop. Chase Utley came to the plate as a pinch hitter with a man on first facing Strop. Strop walked Utley putting two men on with nobody out. Next man up was Justin Turner who grounded an infield hit to Kris Bryant at third. With the bases loaded and nobody out Maddon decided to bring in the hard throwing closer, Aroldis Chapman. The first man to face Chapman was rookie of the year candidate, Corey Seager, who struck out on a 101 MPH fastball up and out of the zone. Yasiel Puig was up next to face Chapman. Chapman continued to cruise as he struck out Puig with a 102 MPH fastball. Chapman's final test came in the form of the veteran Adrian Gonzalez who delivered for the Dodgers with a two run single straight up the middle. Next up with Chapman trying to keep it a tie game was Yasmani Grandal, who grounded out to shortstop Addison Russell, ending the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth Joe Blanton started his outing by facing Ben Zobrist who immediately led off with a double. The next batter, Addison Russell, grounded out to third baseman Justin Turner, forcing Zobrist to stay at second. The Dodgers decided to intentionally walk Jason Heyward to face Javier Baez with one out and men on first and second. Baez, on the first pitch of the at bat, popped out to right field, bringing up Chris Coghlan who was intentionally walked so that Joe Maddon was forced to pinch hit for Aroldis Chapman. Miguel Montero took Chapman's spot in the order with two outs and the bases loaded. Montero hit a grand slam on a 0-2 count, and just like that the Cubs took a 7-3 lead. The very next batter, Dexter Fowler, hit another homerun to right field on the first pitch of his at bat making it 8-3. The Cubs kept on rolling when Kris Bryant hit a double to left center field. Finally Dodger's manager Dave Roberts had enough and brought in reliever Grant Dayton to face Anthony Rizzo who fouled out to Justin Turner ending a 45 minute inning.
Finally after a long eighth inning the Cubs brought in former closer Hector Rondon to keep the 8-3 lead, and most importantly boost the Cubs to their first win in a Championship Series game since 2003. First up was Kike Hernandez, who quickly grounded out to Bryant at third. Next Joc Pederson reached safety at first on an infield single, on a misplay by Rizzo. Andrew Toles followed, hitting a double that scored Joc Pederson, making it an 8-4 ballgame. Chase Utley lined out to Rizzo who caught Toles off the bag on second, getting the force out thus ending the game; final score Cubs 8, Dodgers 4.
The Cubs now look forward to tomorrow night when Clayton Kershaw (on short rest) faces the ERA champion, Kyle Hendricks. The Dodgers look to tie the series while the Cubs hope to take a commanding 2-0 before heading to LA. We shall find out tomorrow night.
