Chicago Cubs attack Kershaw early, advance to the World Series

The Chicago Cubs returned to Wrigley Field after taking the final two games in Los Angeles. Joe Maddon and his club came through with an offensive explosion, forcing the LCS to return to the Windy City.

Unlike Clayton Kershaw‘s previous start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, this one did not go as he had hoped. Kershaw hurled a solid 1-0 shutout with the help of his closer, Kenley Jansen last Sunday. A game which tied the series at one and swung momentum in favor of the Dodgers.

However, the Chicago Cubs refused to give up. They stormed back with an offensive explosion in Game 4 and 5, reclaiming a 3-2 series advantage. Their bats did not slow down after a day off on Thursday.

It was outfielder Dexter Fowler who got things going with a bloop double down the right field line to begin the home half of the first. Fowler scored in the inning on a Kris Bryant RBI single and later knocked in Addison Russell.

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Russell led off the second with a double out to left field, opening the floodgates on Kershaw who looked defeated tonight.

On the other side of the ball, you had Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks gave up only two hits to this Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, issuing zero walks and recording six strikeouts as he exited the game with a 5-0 lead.

Skipper Joe Maddon opted to turn to his closer, Aroldis Chapman, to record the final outs of the game. Meanwhile, Hendricks received a standing ovation while most fans were disappointed he was unable to finish the game himself.

Now, to the scoring. As mentioned, it all started with Bryant driving in Fowler, and Fowler driving in Russell. Rookie catcher Willson Contreras drilled his first career postseason home run off Kershaw in the fourth, giving the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

Cornerstone Shows Up

And the main centerpiece of this organization, Anthony Rizzo, drilled a solo home run out to right field. Rizzo has been the heart and soul of this team, coming up huge in the previous two games prior to tonight’s win.

A few key moments happened early on in the game. Javier Baez turned an impressive double play, tagging Andrew Toles and throwing out Joc Pederson at first. Toles turned on the first pitch of the game and lined it out to right field.

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Baez committed an error and went hitless in the batter’s box but will more than likely end up being the MVP of the Cubs postseason run.

Now that this game is done and over with, it’s time to focus on the Cleveland Indians. It’ll be either Jake Arrieta or Jon Lester taking the ball in Game 1 in Ohio. First two games of the World Series will be in Cleveland and another three at Wrigley Field following.

Magic number is now down to four.