Dodgers get their Hollywood ending in NLCS
Los Angeles Dodgers punch their ticket to the World Series in Game 5 of the NLCS, outscoring the Chicago Cubs 11-1 Thursday night, ending 13 years of playoff frustration.
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, Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally going to the World Series.
Hernandez homered three times and drove in a record seven runs, 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 just no stopping these Dodgers. With Kershaw firing away at the top of a deep pitching staff and co-NLCS MVPs Justin Turner and Chris Taylor leading a tough lineup, one of baseball’s most storied franchises captured its first pennant since Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda managed Los Angeles to its last championship in 1988.
Kershaw was just OK in his first two starts in this year’s postseason, but Los Angeles’ loaded lineup picked him up each time. Backed by Hernandez’s powerful show in Chicago, Kershaw turned in an efficient three-hit performance with five strikeouts in his sixth career playoff win — matching Burt Hooton for the franchise record.
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 dominant closer near the mound, and a small, but vocal group of Los Angeles fans gathered behind the visitors’ dugout and chanted “Let’s go Dodgers! 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 then a grand slam in the third against Hector Rondon. He added a two-run shot in the ninth against Mike Montgomery.
It was a stunning display for a player with 28 career homers in four seasons also burdened by thoughts of his native Puerto Rico, which is recovering from a devastating hurricane.
“Obviously, people back home are having a really hard time right now,” Hernandez said. “For me to be able to come here and do something like this is pretty special.
“My body’s here, but my mind’s kind of back home. It’s hard being away from home with what’s going on. To be able to do this on a stage like this and against the Cubs that beat us last year and to get us to the World Series, it’s amazing.”