Rested Dodgers welcome weary Cubs
Matchup looks to be a compelling one
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers are tanned, rested and ready. They won 104 games this season and swept their first playoff matchup, giving them four days off in the Southern California sun before the NL Championship Series.
The Chicago Cubs had to grind out a 277-minute victory in Washington to clinch their division series, and they sat on their ensuing charter flight to the West Coast for about 10 hours after a passenger’s medical problem forced a long stop in Albuquerque. After arriving around lunchtime Friday, they had to skip a scheduled workout to catch up on sleep and rest.
Whether the dominant Dodgers can use those advantages in any meaningful way against the possibly bedraggled World Series champions will be revealed when these powerhouse clubs play for the NL pennant again.
In Game 1 on Saturday night, Clayton Kershaw will pitch with a full week of rest. The Cubs hadn’t figured out who would oppose him by late Friday afternoon.
“So we’re going to be tired (Saturday). Who cares?” Chicago manager Joe Maddon asked Friday. “They’re going to be ready to play. Regardless of being stuck on the runway, getting in late — whatever it takes, our guys are ready to play. Kershaw is good. But so are our guys, too.”
The Cubs and Dodgers are back for a rematch of last season’s NLCS, which Chicago won in six games after Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead. The Dodgers won 18 more games than the Cubs this season, and they have plenty in their favor this October after four straight failures to reach the World Series with high-priced NL West championship teams.
The Dodgers also have far more pressure than the Cubs, and they realize it. As the whole world knows, Chicago ended its 108-year championship drought last fall. The Cubs are in their third straight NLCS, their reputation as lovable losers thoroughly buried.
The Dodgers’ World Series drought is a paltry 28 years, but it looms large in LA.
“We had the best record in baseball during the regular season, which doesn’t mean anything now,” infielder Kike Hernandez said. “We won the division series, which doesn’t mean anything in the next series. We got within two games of the World Series last year, and (the Cubs) just manhandled us the next three games. It hurt. If we did get better, that means we should get to the World Series and win it. If we don’t do that, not a single person here is going to be happy.”
Kershaw gave up four homers in the NLDS opener, but his teammates made them irrelevant with a huge offensive game. With three Cy Young Awards and an NL MVP trophy, Kershaw has just about everything in baseball except reaching the World Series.
With a full week of rest heading into Game 1, the lefty and his Dodgers likely have their best chance yet.
Lessons from last year
The Dodgers still sting from losing the final three games of last year’s NLCS, failing to homer in all three defeats. Compounding their misery, their bus had trouble leaving Wrigley Field while the neighborhood was filled with celebrating fans. When asked what he learned from last year’s loss, Kershaw quipped: “Try to walk a few blocks and get an Uber if we lose again.” The Dodgers think they’re better equipped to counter the Cubs with additions including rookieCody Bellinger , a much-improved Yasiel Puig and an extraordinarily deep group of pitchers.