Los Angeles finishes off defending champs, wins first NL pennant in 29 years
1st pennant since 1988 as last year’s champs fall
CHICAGO — Enrique Hernandez put a Hollywood ending on an L.A. story three decades in the making.
Fueled by a home run trilogy from their emotional utilityman, the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series.
Hernandez homered three times and drove in a championship-series record seven runs, Clayton Kershaw breezed through six crisp innings and Los Angeles ended the Chicago Cubs’ title defense with an 11-1 rout in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series on Thursday night.
“It feels good to hear World Series,” Kershaw said. “It’s been a long time coming for this team.”
After years of playoff heartache, there was no stopping these Dodgers. With Kershaw firing away at the top of a deep pitching staff and NLCS co-MVPs Justin Turner and Chris Taylor leading a tough lineup, one of baseball’s most storied franchises captured its first pennant since 1988, when Tommy Lasorda managed Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser and Co. to a World Series championship.
The Dodgers will host the New York Yankees or Houston Astros in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night. One more Yankees win would set up the 12th chapter in an old October rivalry between the Yankees and Dodgers.
Los Angeles made the playoffs in eight of the past 13 seasons and came up short of the World Series each time, often with Kershaw shouldering much of the blame.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner took the loss when his team was eliminated by the Cubs in Game 6 of last year’s NLCS. Thursday, backed by Hernandez’s power display, Kershaw turned in an efficient three-hit performance.
Cubs starter Jose Quintana was pulled in the third and Kris Bryant homered, but the defending champs finished with four hits in another tough night at the plate. They batted .156 in the series.
When Kenley Jansen retired Willson Contreras on a liner to shortstop for the final out, the party was on. The Dodgers poured out of the dugout and mobbed their closer, and a small but vocal group of Los Angeles fans gathered behind the visitors’ dugout and chanted, “Let’s go Dodgers!”
Hernandez connected on the first two pitches he saw, belting a solo drive in the second for his first career playoff homer and a grand slam in the third against Hector Rondon. He added a two-run shot in the ninth against Mike Montgomery.
The 26-year-old became the fourth player with a three-homer game in a League Championship Series. His seven RBIs set an LCS record and tied the postseason record. It was a stunning display for a player with 28 career homers in four seasons who is also burdened by his concern for his native Puerto Rico, which is recovering from a devastating hurricane.
“For me to be able to come here and do something like this is pretty special,” Hernandez said. “My body’s here, but my mind’s kind of back home.”