In the NLCS matchup, the Cubs were playing to get into their first World Series since 1945 while the Los Angeles Dodgers last World Series appearance was in 1988. Both teams were eager to come out on top, but only one was successful.
Game 1
In the first game of the NLCS, Jon Lester took the mound for the Cubs and Kenta Maeda took the mound for the Dodgers. In the bottom of the first, Kris Bryant doubled and scored Dexter Fowler giving the Cubs an early lead. Again in the bottom of the 2nd, another Cub had an RBI double. This time it was from Baez scoring Heyward. Later in the inning, Baez stole home. Score going into the 3rd inning was 0-3 Chicago. Bats stayed silent until the 5th inning with Andre Either homered putting the Dodgers on board. In the top of the 8th, Mike Montgomery took the mound for the Cubs. Adrian Gonzalez singled off of Montgomery, scoring Toles and Utley. Score tied at 3. However, the Chicago Cubs rallied back in the bottom of the 8th with a set of homeruns. One was a grand slam from Montero that scored Zobrist, Heyward, and Coghlan. Next one came from Dexter Fowler. This gave the Cubs a 8 to 3 lead. The Dodgers tried to rally back in the top of the 9th with an RBI double from Toles that scored Pederson. The Dodgers were unable to make up ground and the Cubs took game 1 of the series.
Dodgers: 4 Cubs: 8
WP: A. Chapman (1-0)
LP: J. Blanton (0-1)
Game 2
In the second game of the NLCS, Kyle Hendricks took the mound for Chicago and Clayton Kershaw took the mound for Los Angeles. The only run of the game came in the top of 2nd inning when Adrian Gonzalez had a home run. Dodgers win the game 1-0.
Dodgers: 1 Cubs: 0
WP: C. Kershaw (1-0)
LP: K. Hendricks (0-1)
S: K. Jansen (1)
Game 3
As the series moved to Los Angeles, Rich Hill took the mound for the Dodgers and Jake Arrieta took the mound for the Cubs. The first run of the game came in the bottom of the 3rd when Seager had a RBI single scoring Toles. In the bottom of the 4th, Gandal homered scoring Reddick. The Dodgers scored again in the bottom of the 6th with a homer from Turner. In the bottom of the 8th, Pederson had a RBI double scoring Puig. After that, Pederson scored on a groundout by Gandal. Dodgers won the third game of the series 6 to 0.
Cubs: 0 Dodgers: 6
WP: R. Hill (1-0)
LP: J. Arrieta (0-1)
Game 4
In the 4th game of the series, Julio Urias took the mound for the Dodgers and John Lackey took the mound for the Cubs. In the top of the 4th, Contreras singled which scored Zobrist. Next, Heyward grounded out, scoring Baez. After that, Russel homered scoring Contreras. At the end of the 4th, the Cubs were ahead by 4 runs. In the top of the 5th Rizzo homered adding to the Cubs’ lead. In the bottom of the 5th, Montgomery came in to relieve Lackey. Turner singled which scored Toles and Either. Score 5-2. In the top of the 6th, Stripling gave up an RBI single to Heyward which scored Russel. Stripling then proceeded to give up a RBI single to Rizzo that scored Montgomery and Fowler. Avilan then came in to relieve Stripling. Baez had a sac fly that scored Bryant and Rizzo. No other runs were scored the rest of the game and the Cubs beat the Dodgers 10-2.
Cubs: 10 Dodgers: 2
WP: M. Montgomery (1-0)
LP: J. Urias (0-1)
Game 5
In the 5th game of the series, Maeda took the mound for the Dodgers and Lester took the mound for the Cubs. In the top of the first, Rizzo had a RBI double scoring Fowler. Next run came in the bottom of the 4th when Gonzalez grounded out which scored Kendrick. In the top of the 6th, Joe Blanton came in and gave up a two run homerun to Russel that scored Baez. In the top of the 8th, Pedro Baez came in to pitch for Los Angeles. Fowler had an RBI single scoring Russell. Right after Fowler’s RBI single, Bryant had his own RBI single that scored Contreras. Towards the end of the inning, Baez doubled scoring Fowler, Bryant, and Zobrist. In the bottom of the 8th, Ruiz had a RBI double scoring Toles. In the bottom of the 9th, Reddick had an RBI double scoring Gonzalez. After the double, Toles had a sac fly scoring Pederson. The Dodgers were unable to make up the run deficit and the Cubs won 8-4.
Cubs: 8 Dodgers: 4
WP: J. Lester (1-0)
LP: J. Blanton (0-2)
Game 6
As the series moved back to Chicago, Kyle Hendricks took the mound for the Cubs and Clayton Kershaw took the mound for the Dodgers. In the bottom of the 1st, Kris Bryant had an RBI single scoring Dexter Fowler. Then, Zobrist proceeded to hit a sacrifice fly that scored Bryant, giving the Cubs an early lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Cubs gained another run from a RBI single from Fowler that scored Russell. In the bottom of the 4th, Contreras homered causing the Cubs to lead 4 to 0. Final run of the game came in the bottom of the 5th when Rizzo homered. The Cubs won 5 to 0 and advanced to their first World Series in 71 years.
Dodgers: 0 Cubs: 5
WP: K. Hendricks (1-1)
LP: C. Kershaw (1-1)
The Chicago Cubs advance to the World Series and play the Cleveland Indians.
