L.A. still perfect in playoffs
Home runs offset another mediocre start by Kershaw.
Chris Taylor LOS ANGELES — hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Yasiel Puig added a homer and an RBI double to his torrid 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 NL Championship Series opener.
Charlie Culberson doubled, drove in the tying run and scored another while replacing injured All-Star shortstop Corey Seager for the resourceful Dodgers, who improved to 4-0 in this postseason.
With another collective offensive effort and four innings of perfect relief pitching, Los Angeles calmly 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 he 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 tworun homer in the fourth, but the final 18 batters failed to reach base for the weary Cubs, still bouncing back from a 10-hour cross-country flight after eliminating Washington late Thursday night.
“Their bullpen is pretty firm, and we have to really get our feet back on the ground,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
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 because of a medical situation. But the Dodgers tied it against him in the fifth and went ahead in the sixth with Taylor’s leadoff homer off loser Hector Rondon.
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.
Puig added another huge offensive game to his recent surge with his first career postseason homer. He drove a double deep into the left-center gap in the fifth inning to score Los Angeles’ first run, and his homer off Mike Montgomery in the sixth barely got over the fence in left. Puig is 7 for 15 with six RBIs in the Dodgers’ first four playoff games.
Seager out: Seager was left off the NLCS roster due to back pain. The All-Star’s surprise absence deprived Los Angeles of its No. 2 hitter and forced the club to play Culberson, who had only 15 big league plate appearances in the regular season. But Culberson came through with a series of big plays at the plate and on the basepaths.