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Chicago Cubs: First pennant win since 1945 came easily thanks to Kyle Hendricks

10.22.16. The last time the Cubs had a 3-2 series lead in the NLCS was 2003…and everyone remembers how that ended. That was not going to happen this time, and Cubs fans would experience little stress in this one.

Kyle Hendricks, the season ERA title winner, against All-Star Clayton Kershaw.

The Cubs got to Kershaw early with two runs in the first. Kris Bryant drove in the first run, and an Andrew Toles error set up a Ben Zobrist sac-fly. Dexter Fowler drove in a run in the bottom of the second with an RBI single. Willson Contreras hit a solo homer to left in the fourth and Anthony Rizzo hit one to right in the fifth, chasing Kershaw out of the game. Five runs (four earned) on seven hits off the three-time Cy Young winner.

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Meanwhile, Hendricks was dominating. He had the Dodgers off balance all night, getting outs and getting them quickly. He faced the minimum through seven innings, erasing a hit and a Javier Baez error with a double play ball and pickoff. Starting in the third inning, Hendricks retired the side five straight innings. With one out in the eighth, he gave up a groundball single to Josh Reddick and was pulled by Joe Maddon. The crowd gave him a roaring ovation as he walked to the dugout with Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” playing over the Wrigley sound system.

Hendricks pitched 7.1 innings, 2 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 0 runs on 88 pitches. 57 strikes, 10 groundballs, seven flyballs, one line drive. He was responsible for only two Dodgers baserunners and not a single Dodger got into scoring position.

Aroldis Chapman would come on to get the final five outs. He induced a double play off the bat of Howie Kendrick to end the eighth. In the ninth, he struck out Kike Hernandez, walked Carlos Ruiz and then got Yasiel Puig to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

"“He’ll [Puig] hit a groundball towards short, Russell goes to Baez one, over to first…the Cubs are going to the World Series!” -Cubs radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes"

42,386 fans at Wrigley Field, along with thousands more in the streets and Wrigleyville bars, all sang “Go Cubs Go” together as fireworks blasted in the sky. The ceremony on the field included interviews with Tom Ricketts, Theo Epstein and many of the players. It was arguably the greatest night in Wrigley Field history.