The Los Angeles Dodgers took the first game of the 2017 National League Championship Series, defeating the Chicago Cubs, 5-2. Clayton Kershaw was solid, if underworked, the bullpen was stellar, and Yasiel Puig bat-flipped a double.
Dodgers down Cubs in Game 1, take 1-0 NLCS lead
Clayton Kershaw was solid, his bullpen was perfect, and Yasiel Puig was on fire.
This was the Dodger blueprint, then.
The Cubs scored first, with Albert Almora, Jr. booming a long home run off Kershaw in the top of the fourth inning for a 2-0 lead. Then a funny thing happened: The Dodgers scored runs. They scored least five runs for just the fifth time in Kershaw’s 15 postseason starts
That was the score going into the bottom of the fifth, when Jose Quintana suffered an uncharacteristic bout of wildness, walking Logan Forsythe and Austin Barnes. That brought up Puig, who hit a double.
This is a picture of Puig hitting that double:
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? Well, yes. Yes, we are. The double scored Forsythe, and a sacrifice fly from Charlie Culberson tied the score, 2-2.
The Dodgers broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth with an opposite-field solo home run from Chris Taylor, who was rebuilt by the same scientists who refurbished Justin Turner.
Puig followed with a solo homer of his own in the seventh, and after some controversy about Willson Contreras blocking home plate, Culberson scored the final insurance run.
Five years ago, Contreras is drinking his dinners through a straw and the Dodgers score a run. Today, Contreras is fine, and the Dodgers scored a run. It would appear as if we’ve made some progress.
Kershaw threw just five innings (87 pitches), but the Dodgers’ bullpen was perfect. Five different relievers combined to throw four innings without a baserunner, including Kenley Jansen picking up a four-out save.
The Dodgers have a 1-0 series lead in the NLCS for the first time since 1985, and they’ll try to extend the lead on Sunday night, with Rich Hill facing the Cubs’ Jon Lester.
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