A World Series berth 29 years in the making, the Los Angeles Dodgers wasted little time in landing a knockout punch against the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. Kiké Hernandez made Dodgers and MLB history in the 11-1 pounding of the defending champions.
While Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sent out a lineup with the same players from Game 1, the order was shuffled. Chris Taylor remained in the leadoff spot and worked Jose Quintana for a nine-pitch walk to open the game.
He scored two batters later on Cody Bellinger’s double to right field. Hernandez then led off the second inning with a home run, but his big blast came in the third on a grand slam. Each home run came on the first pitch of the at-bat.
Hernandez joined Ron Cey (1977), Dusty Baker (1977) and James Loney (2008) as Dodgers to hit a grand slam in the postseason. With runners at the corners and two outs in the fourth inning, Logan Forsythe’s two-run double off the wall in left field extended the Dodgers’ lead to 9-0.
Hernandez added to his impressive night by clubbing a third home run — a two-run shot — in the ninth inning. Hernandez’s three home runs are the most by a Dodgers player in the postseason, and his seven RBI set a new NLCS record.
Pitching with the substantial lead, Clayton Kershaw went to work against the narrative of being incapable of succeeding in the postseason. It wasn’t until Kris Bryant’s solo home run with one out in the bottom of the fourth that Kershaw surrendered a hit.
Willson Contreras singled with two outs in the same inning, Kyle Schwarber reached on a bunt in the sixth, but that was all for the Cubs against the Dodgers ace. Kershaw struck out five against one walk and the three hits allowed over six innings.
Kenta Maeda, Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen combined for three perfect innings out of the bullpen. Dodgers relievers threw 17 scoreless innings in the NLCS.
The NL pennant is the Dodgers’ 22nd all-time, which trails only the San Francisco Giants (23) for most in league history.
