The Chicago Cubs win 8-4 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS.
The Chicago Cubs got on the board early and broke a tie in the 8th inning to take Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, 8-4, over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The action got started early when the Cubs got on the board in the first inning. Kris Bryant knocked a line drive double into center field, scoring Dexter Fowler. In the 2nd inning, Javier Baez hit a double that brought in Jason Heyward. Cubs are up 2-0. In the same inning, with Jon Lester at bat, Baez stole home plate to put the Cubs up 3-0.
The Dodgers scored in the top of the 5th inning with an Andre Ethier home run, bringing the score to 3-1 Cubbies.
Things got interesting in the top of the 8th inning. The Dodgers brought in pinch-hitter Andrew Toles to replace Ross Stripling. Toles hit a line drive to left field, which led to a pitching change for the Cubs. Pedro Strop came in for Mike Montgomery, and then the Dodgers switched out Howie Kendrick for Chase Utley. Utley walked in his at-bat, advancing Toles. Justin Turner came up and singled to third base but Kris Bryant couldn’t get there in time, loading the bases with no outs. Aroldis Chapman replaced Strop on the mound and struck out Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig, but Chapman was no match for Adrian Gonzalez who knocked a single to center field, scoring Toles and Utley to tie the game with two outs. The inning ended with Yasmani Grandal grounding out.
Chicago answered in the first at-bat in the bottom of the 8th when Ben Zobrist nailed a walk off double to get things going for the Cubs. LA walked Chris Coghlan to force Cubs manager Joe Maddon to either send Chapman to the plate or bring in someone else with two outs and the bases loaded. Madden sent in Miguel Montero and he hit a grand slam on an 0-2 count to bring the Cubs up 7-3. That’s the third pinch-hit grand slam in postseason history. Dexter Fowler came up next and hit a solo home run into right field to bring the score to 8-3. The Dodgers get another run in the 9th courtesy of Andrew Toles, but they can’t catch the Cubs.
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Game 2 of the National League Championship Series is set for Sunday, October 16 at 7pm ET on FS1. Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start for the Dodgers and Kyle Hendricks has the start for the Cubs.