Lester not thrown by a
LOS ANGELES – It’s been 71 years since the Cubs played in the World Series and 108 since they’ve won a championship.
One more win against the Dodgers will end the first half of that curse-ridden equation.
Addison Russell belted a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break a tie score, lifting the Cubs to an 8-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.
Jon Lester threw seven innings of one-run ball, continuing his mastery of the Dodgers, who have scored only three runs in 28 innings against the lefthander this season.
Lester gave up five hits and one walk, striking out six as he improved to 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his three postseason starts, allowing two runs over 21 innings.
The win gives the Cubs a 3-2 lead in the bestof-seven series, sending them back to Chicago for Game 6 on Saturday night at Wrigley Field. Clayton Kershaw, who beat the Cubs in Game 2, will pitch for the Dodgers.
“You’d much rather go home under those circumstances than any other, and you want to get it done as quickly as possible. It’s going to be a formidable event. Our guys will absolutely be ready for the moment.”
This is the closest the Cubs have been to the Fall Classic since 2003, when they held a 3-1 NLCS lead over the Marlins. After Florida won Game 5, the series shifted to Chicago, where Steve Bartman entered Cubs lore and Dusty Baker’s team dropped both games at home, handing their long-suffering fan base another cruel ending. Will this year be different? After the Cubs lost Game 3 at Dodger Stadium Tuesday, the pressure was on them to get the series back home. Wednesday’s Game 4 win accomplished that feat, while Thursday night’s victory sends them home with a chance to clinch against Kershaw.
“At this time of the year, if you wanted to get to your ultimate goal, you have to beat people like that. You have to,” Maddon said.
The Dodgers have lost five of the six games this postseason that Kershaw has not pitched in, though they’ll have their ace on the mound Saturday as they try to keep their season alive for at least one more day.
“Obviously the fans are pretty excited about their team this year, and rightfully so,” Kershaw said. “They’ve been waiting a long time for them to win.” Russell’s home run was the Cubs’ first hit with a runner in scoring position after they opened the night 0-for-10 in those spots.
The Cubs struck quickly against Kenta Maeda in the first, getting a leadoff single by Dexter Fowler and a one-out double by Anthony Rizzo to give them a 1-0 lead.
Lester flirted with danger in the first and third, but he stranded a runner in scoring position in each inning. When he struck out Corey Seager to end the third, Lester pumped his fist and shouted on his way off the field. “He’s a great pitcher who competes and finds ways to get outs when he needs to,” L.A. manager Dave Roberts said. “So we had some opportunities, but those guys got the hit when they needed.”
Maeda gave up a double by Javier Baez and hit Jason Heyward with a pitch, putting runners at first and second with nobody out in the fourth. The righthander retired the next two batters, but even with Lester on deck, manager Dave Roberts decided he had seen enough, calling on Josh Fields to finish the inning.
Howie Kendrick lined a one-out double in the fourth, then stole third base, though he was initially called out before a video review reversed the call. Adrian Gonzalez hit a grounder to first with the Cubs’ infield playing in, but Rizzo couldn’t make a clean play on the ball, allowing Kendrick to score as Rizzo had to settle for the out at first.
The game remained tied at 1 into the sixth, when Joe Blanton entered the game as the Dodgers’ fourth pitcher of the night. Baez led off with a single, then stole second. One out later, Russell ripped an 0-1 slider over the center-field fence, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead with his second homer in as many nights.
Lester tossed two more scoreless innings before the offense broke out for five runs in the eighth, giving the bullpen a comfortable cushion to close it out. The Dodgers scored a run off Pedro Strop in the eighth and then two in the ninth off Aroldis Chapman but it was little more than window dressing.
LOS ANGELES — As early as they possibly could, the Dodgers all but announced they were going to try to beat Jon Lester with psychological warfare. Their first hitter of the game, Kike Hernandez, walked and promptly took a lead off first that stretched halfway to Pasadena.
The size of the lead was something you never see with a major league pitcher on the mound, never mind a lefthander — so big that Hernandez was all but screaming at Lester: “Go ahead, pick me off.’’
Except Lester wouldn’t so much as make a throw to first. Or couldn’t make one.
By now it’s no secret that Lester has a mental block of sorts about throwing to bases, and while teams often try to run on him, it’s rare when a team is so brazen about taking huge leads, trying to get in his head.
Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said as much before the game:
“Whatever you want to call it, he just doesn’t feel comfortable throwing the ball (to a base),’’ Roberts said. “So obviously, as good a pitcher as he is, we’re going to get huge leads and try to bunt and try to get in his psyche a little.”
It made sense to try to exploit a weakness, but Lester didn’t flinch all night, throwing seven strong innings in an 8-4 win that gives the Cubs a 3-2 series lead in this NLCS, one win from reaching the World Series. In fact, who knows, perhaps it fueled Lester. He obviously didn’t appreciate it, glaring into the Dodgers’ dugout after making a play on a bunt by Joc Pederson, after his wobbly, one-hop throw to first barely got the out. More to the point, Lester was impressively tough-minded in the face of the attempts to rattle him. Afterward, however, he wouldn’t bite on questions about the Dodgers’ tactics.
“It is what it is,’’ he said. “People have been doing it all year. I play with a lot of emotion. If it rubs people the wrong way, oh well.’’
The Dodgers did take advantage of the giant leads a couple of times, stealing two bases — one of which led to a run, when Howie Kendrick stole third and scored on an infield out.
Nevertheless, Joe Maddon said it was