At Dodger Stadium, Chicago got into scoring position in the top of the first inning off of lefthander Clayton Kershaw.
After striking out the lead-off hitter, Kershaw gave up a single to Kris Bryant and walked Anthony Rizzo.
The veteran lefthander then followed with another strikeout and got a force play-grounder that ended the inning.
Kershaw retired the side in the second inning, but saw the Cubs get into scoring position again in the third at bat.
Cubs-pitcher José Quintana led off with a single (!) and moved on a sacrifice bunt by Jon Jay, but then stranded.
José Quintana retired the side in the first inning (two strikeouts).
In the next at bat, he gave up an one-out single to Logan Forsythe, but then was supported with a double play.
The lefthander retired the side again in the third.
In the top of the fourth, Chicago opened the score.
Willson Contreras led off with a single, then next hitter Albert Almora, Jr. homered to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
Eight days ago, Kershaw gave up four homeruns in 6 1/3 inning when he started the opener of the NLDS against Washington Nationals.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Dodgers came alongside.
Quintana began with a strikeout, but then walked Logan Forsythe and Austin Barnes
Forsythe had been the last runner for the Dodgers in the second inning and hereafter, Quintana had retired eight consecutive hitters.
With two runners on base, Yasiel Puig drove the ball into left-centerfield.
After making contact, the Cuban powerhitter spread his arms (probably thinking it was a homerun), but the ball stayed in the field and so, Puig had to settle for an RBI-double, which brought in Forsythe.
Barnes was stopped at third base and moments later, he scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Charlie Culberson.
With Puig still in scoring position at second base, Dodger Manager Dave Roberts opted for bringing in a pinch-hitter for Clayton Kershaw, which of course meant that the veteran wouldn't return to the mound.
Pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer grounded out to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Tony Cingrani took over the pitching from Kershaw, did his job, got a grounder from Anthony Rizzo and was replaced again.
Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda took over and got two grounders.
...Kenley Jansen struckout four hitters...
...and earned a save...
(© Photo: Freek Bouw/Phrake Photography) |
In the bottom of the sixth, Hector Rondon relieved José Quintana, but he was greeted with a lead-off homerun from Chris Taylor, which gave Los Angeles a 3-2 lead.
Rondon had not been on the roster of the Cubs during the NLDS.
After striking out Justin Turner, Rondon was relieved by Mike Montgomery.
Cody Bellinger welcomed the new pitcher with a single.
The 22-year old Bellinger had a great rookie-season after being added to the big league-roster on April 25.
In 132 games, he batted .267 with 39 homeruns and 97 runs batted in.
His 39 homeruns are a rookie-record in the National League, as he broke the record set by Wally Berger in 1930 and tied by Frank Robinson in 1956.
With two outs, Bellinger stole second base, which ended in a close play and a challenge.
Bellinger was called safe by 2B Umpire Mike Winters and after a review, the call was upheld.
In the regular season, Bellinger had stolen only ten bases.
Next batter Logan Forsythe walked, but the inning then ended with a flyout.
The Dodgers added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Yasiel Puig led off with a homerun.
Hereafter, Charlie Culberson doubled, but was unable to advanced on a bunt by Brandon Morrow (who had become the new Dodger-pitcher in the top of the seventh).
Culberson also was unable to move on an infield-hit by Chris Taylor, but that did led to a pitching change.
Veteran John Lackey took over, but he gave up a single to Justin Turner.
Culberson was waved home, but a great throw from leftfielder Kyle Schwarber followed and catcher Willson Contreras made a great play at the plate.
Culberson missed touching the plate, then was tagged out and called out by Home Plate Umpire Lance Barksdale.
However, while receiving the ball, Contreras blocked Culberson with his leg and that led to a challenge.
According to the new collision rule, which was introduced a few years ago, a catcher cannot block the lane of a runner anymore without having clear possession of the ball to avoid collision and protect both the runner and the catcher.
After a review, the call was overturned and Culberson was ruled safe, making it a 5-2 lead for the Dodgers.
As the play didn't look that strange (the reversed call was made based on the rule) Chicago's Manager Joe Maddon of course angrily disputed the reversal of the call and was ejected.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, closer Kenley Jansen entered the game for the Dodgers and ended the at bat with a strikeout.
In the top of the ninth, Jansen also struckout Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Ian Happ to end the game.
With that, the final 18 batters of the Cubs were retired in order!
The last time that the Dodgers won an opening game in a League Championship Series was on October 9, 1985.
32 years ago, the Dodgers won 4-1 against St. Louis Cardinals.
In that game, which was also played in Dodger Stadium, Fernando Valenzuela was the winning pitcher.
The first run was scored on a single by Mike Scioscia, who now is the Manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2000.
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Yasiel Puig and strong pitching lead Dodgers to win in NLCS-opener
LOS ANGELES, California (USA) -
Los Angeles Dodgers opened the best-of-seven National League Championship Series against Chicago Cubs on Saturday-evening (October 14) with a 5-2 victory.
Game 2 will be played on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Last year, the two teams also faced each other in the NLCS and the Cubs then won the Series, 4-2.
The Cubs, champion of the NL Central Division, clinched last Thursday, winning 9-8 against Washington Nationals to win their Series, 3-2.
That game lasted four hours and 37 minutes (longest 9-inning game in postseason-history) and ended at 00:45 AM.
Afterwards, the team went to Dulles International Airport for the 5-hour flight to Los Angeles.
The chartered plane departed around 4 AM (Eastern time) and should have arrived at 6 AM (Los Angeles-time).
The team then had a workout scheduled at Dodger Stadium in the afternoon.
However, the flight to Los Angeles took some ten hours!
Due to a medical situation aboard, the plane had to make a landing at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Because of the unscheduled landing, the pilot had to be replaced due to duty-hour restrictions and with that, the plane stayed at Albuquerque for five hours.
Hereafter, the travel continued and the team arrived at Los Angeles around 11 AM local time.
The medical situation had to do with the wife of pitcher José Quintana, who was the announced starting pitcher in the opener.
While the team traveled to Los Angeles, Quintana stayed behind to be with his wife.
The two then flew to LA later in the day and arrived on Friday-evening.