Dodgers rally past Cubs, take opener
LOS ANGELES — Chris Taylor hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Yasiel Puig added a homer and an RBI double to his dynamite postseason, and the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a short start by Clayton Kershaw for a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night in the National League Championship Series opener.
Charlie Culberson doubled, drove in the tying run and scored another while replacing injured All-Star shortstop Corey Seager for the Dodgers, who improved to 4-0 in this postseason.
With another collective offensive effort and four innings of perfect relief pitching, Los Angeles overcame an early two-run deficit and took the first game of this rematch of the 2016 NLCS, won in six games by Chicago on the way to its first World Series championship in 108 years.
Kershaw pitched five innings of four-hit ball, but the Los Angeles ace fell behind 2-0 before getting pulled for a pinch-hitter during Los Angeles’ tying rally.
But after winning 104 games in the regular season and sweeping Arizona in the Division Series, the Dodgers have a lineup and bullpen equipped to handle it. They made Kershaw’s latest laborious postseason start irrelevant, just as they did after he gave up four homers in his playoff-opening start against the Diamondbacks last week.
Albert Almora Jr. hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Cubs, but the final 18 batters failed to reach base for the weary Cubs, still bouncing back from a 10-hour cross-country flight after finishing off Washington late Thursday night.
Jose Quintana pitched five innings of two-hit ball for the Cubs one day after his wife, Michel, was taken off the team plane in Albuquerque with a medical ailment. But the Dodgers tied it against him in the fifth and went ahead in the sixth with Taylor’s leadoff shot off loser Hector Rondon.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon was ejected in the seventh after a call at the plate was reversed. Culberson initially was ruled out when he attempted to score from second, but was called safe after video review when catcher Willson Contreras was deemed to be in violation of blocking home plate without the ball.
Kenta Maeda got three outs and the victory in his latest standout relief effort, and Kenley Jansen struck out all four batters he faced for his third save this postseason.
Seager didn’t make the Dodgers’ NLCS roster because of a back injury, the team said. Seager complained of back soreness during the division series clincher in Arizona on Monday, and the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year didn’t participate in team workouts this week.