The Los Angeles Dodgers fought valiantly in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and lost only because of two rare Joe Blanton mistakes. Although the Chicago Cubs jumped out to a series lead, Adrian Gonzalez said the loss served as confidence booster.
After all, it was Gonzalez who delivered a game-tying, two-run single in the eighth inning. He connected on a 102 mph offering from Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman to line a base hit up the middle.
Gonzalez found himself in the thick of the action in Game 2 on Sunday night, this time facing Kyle Hendricks, who led the Majors this season with a 2.13 ERA.
Hendricks came out of the game hot, striking out Chase Utley and Corey Seager, then getting Justin Turner to groundout in a quick 1-2-3 first inning.
But Hendricks gave up an opposite-field solo home to Gonzalez to lead off the second inning:
Stay hot, @Adrian_ElTitan. ? #LALovesOctober pic.twitter.com/5DtVPiaeXD
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 17, 2016
The home run was Gonzalez’s seventh of the postseason with the Dodgers, which trails only Duke Snider (11) Steve Garvey (10) for most in franchise history.
“First at-bat, nobody on base, I wanted to be aggressive. And I saw that first time through the order or first inning he attacked us with fastballs early,” Gonzalez said after the Dodgers squeaked out a 1-0 victory.
“So, I just wanted to get a fastball and try to elevate it. And like I said, thank God I was able to hit it in the air. And I felt pretty good about it once I hit it, but I still ran knowing that it could have easily not gone over the wall. So once it went over the wall, you know, it’s a good feeling.”
The NLCS now shifts to Dodger Stadium for Games 3, 4 and 5, which will be played Tuesday through Thursday. I know that we came in here wanting both,” Gonzalez said. “But taking one is good and we’ll be ready on Tuesday to try to take the series lead.”