The Dodgers struck early, scoring a run in each of the first four innings.
In the top of the first inning, José Quintana walked lead-off hitter Chris Taylor.
He went on to score the first run on an one-out double by Cody Bellinger, who stranded on second base himself.
In the second inning, Kiké Hernández led off with a homerun to double the Dodger-lead off of the Colombian lefthander.
A flyout, pop-out and groundout followed, but the second run was in the books.
The Dodgers then had a productive 5-run rally in the third at bat, which began with four consecutive basehits.
Chris Taylor led off with a ground-rule double, then scored on a following single by Justin Turner.
The bases got loaded when Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig also singled.
That led to an early pitching change, as Quintana was relieved by Hector Rondon.
The Venezuelan righthander began by striking out Logan Forsythe, but hereafter, Kiké Hernández drilled the ball into centerfield for a grand slam homerun!
And that lifted the lead to 7-0!
After the second homerun by Hernández, a line out followed, but then Charlie Culberson connected for the next single.
He was left behind, as the inning end with a strikeout for Clayton Kershaw, who was the ninth batter in this inning.
In the top of the fourth, John Lackey became the new Chicago-pitcher, but he also gave up two more runs to increase the lead to 9-0.
Chris Taylor led off with a single and Cody Bellinger singled with one out.
The two moved on a wild pitch, then Taylor was eliminated at the plate on a grounder by Yasiel Puig.
Bellinger and Puig then both scored when Logan Forsythe followed with a double.
Forsythe advanced on another wild pitch, but then was left behind.
Never before in postseason-history had a 9-run deficit turned into a victory.
The biggest run-difference that was erased was eight and happened on October 12, 1929 in Game 4 of the World Series.
In that game, the Chicago Cubs led 8-0 in the seventh inning, but the Philadelphia Athletics then rallied for ten (!) runs to win 10-8.
In the productive seventh inning at Shibe Park, Al Simmons homered, while Mule Haas hit an inside-the-park-homerun.
The A's, which were managed by legendary Connie Mack, won the Series, 4-1.
Mack managed the A's for the first 50 (!) seasons in the club's history and retired after the 1950 season at age 87.
While managing, Mack never wore a uniform, but always wore a suit and tie, dress pants and dress shoes and a fedora.
Mack was elected in the Hall of Fame in 1937.
...Yasiel Puig was 2-for-5 and scored 3 runs...
...for the Dodgers in Game 5...
...On the photo, he hits for the Cuban Team...
...during the 2011 World Port Tournament...
...in Rotterdam (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Dodger-starter Clayton Kershaw held the Cubs hitless in the first three innings.
He walked a batter in first inning, but retired the side in the next two at bats.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kershaw began with a strikeout, but then gave up a homerun to Kris Bryant.
With two outs, Willson Contreras singled, but was left behind.
In the fifth inning, the Dodgers were held scoreless and were even retired in order.
In the sixth, the Dodgers were retired in order again, this time by Brian Duensing.
Los Angeles reached base again in the seventh when Kiké Hernández walked with two outs, but the inning ended with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kenta Maeda took over the Dodger-pitching from Clayton Kershaw, who had given up three hits in the six innings he pitched.
The Japanese pitcher retired the side.
In the top of the eighth, the Dodgers appeared to add another run when Charlie Culberson led off with a triple, but he was left behind.
The dominance of the Dodger-bullpen continued in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Brandon Morrow took the mound and struckout three hitters.
With one out, he had given up a single to Ian Happ, but he stranded on first base.
In the top of the ninth inning, Los Angeles added two more runs when Kiké Hernandez hit his third homerun in the game!
With one out, Yasiel Puig singled, then with two out, Hernández hit a 2-run homerun to make it a 11-1 score.
With that, Hernández became the tenth different in history (and the first Dodger) to hit three homeruns in a postseason-game.
However, the feat was accomplished eleven times, as legendary Babe Ruth did it twice.
The last player to hit three homeruns was José Altuve, who hit three homeruns for Houston Astros in the ALDS-opener against Boston Red Sox on October 5.
Hernández became only the fourth player to hit three homeruns in a League Championship Series.
The others are Bob Robertson (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1971), George Brett (Kansas City Royals, 1977) and Adam Kennedy (Anaheim Angels, 2002).
The 3-homerun performance by Hernández comes a day after the 40th anniversary of the three homeruns Reggie Jackson hit in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series for the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the ninth inning, Kenley Jansen closed the game for the Dodgers and retired the side.
After two flyouts, the game ended when a line drive from Willson Contreras was caught by short stop Charlie Culberson.
With that, the Dodger-bullpen had thrown 23 consecutive scoreless innings to set a new record.
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Dodgers win big to reach first World Series in 29 years!
CHICAGO, Illinois (USA) -
Los Angeles Dodgers recorded a big 11-1 victory against Chicago Cubs on Thursday-evening (October 19) in Game 5 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
With that, the Dodgers won the Series 4-1 and will play in the World Series for the first time in 29 years!
It also meant the Chicago was dethroned as World Series-champion.
The last time the Dodgers played in the World Series was in 1988, which also was the last time they won the title.
In that Series, they won 4-1 against the Oakland Athletics.
The Dodgers decided the fifth game early.
Leading 2-0, the team rallied for five runs in the third inning, which was highlighted by a grand slam homerun by Kiké Hernández, who also had homered in the second inning.
Hernández hit his third homerun in the ninth inning and set a record with seven runs batted in.