Yasiel Puig hit an RBI double and provided insurance with a home run in the seventh inning to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
While Jose Quintana allowed a one-out single to Logan Forsythe, he induced a double play and faced the minimum through four innings. Command began to betray the southpaw in the fifth, as he walked Forsythe and Austin Barnes to put two on with one out.
Puig’s double to the left-center field gap got the Dodgers on the board and provided a spark. Fittingly, Charlie Culberson found himself in a big spot. While he failed to produce a hit, Culberson’s sacrifice fly tied the game.
Two days removed from his relief appearance in Game 5 of the NL Division Series, Quintana allowed two runs on two hits, walked a pair and struck out four in five innings of work.
Hector Rondon, who was added to the Cubs’ NLCS roster, promptly allowed a go-ahead home run to Chris Taylor in the bottom of the sixth. Taylor became the Dodgers first center fielder to hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning or later of a postseason game since Duke Snider in the 1952 World Series.
Mike Montgomery surrendered a home run to Puig in the seventh on a fly ball that carried just over the wall in left field. The inning did not end without some controversy, as Culberson, who doubled, was initially ruled out at home plate on a single.
The play went into review and it was determined Contreras blocked the plate early, with the run extending the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2. Cubs manager Joe Maddon stormed out of the dugout to plea his case and was ejected after sharing a few choice words.
Whereas Quintana fared well through much of his outing, Clayton Kershaw labored through another postseason start. Kris Bryant singled and Anthony Rizzo walked in the first inning, though Kershaw managed to escape the jam.
Following a Willson Contreras leadoff single in the fourth inning, Albert Almora Jr. lined a two-out home run to the left-field pavilion. With that, Kershaw became the first pitcher in Dodgers history to allow five home runs in a single postseason.
He settled back in to retire the next three batters in the fourth and set the Cubs down in order in the fifth inning. Kyle Farmer pinch-hit for Kershaw in the bottom of the fifth but struck out swinging to strand Puig.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts built the bridge to Kenley Jansen using four separate relievers. Tony Cingrani retired the only batter faced in the sixth, Kenta Maeda completed a full inning, Brandon Morrow and Tony Watson each recorded two outs, and Kenley Jansen converted a four-out save.
Jansen punctuated his save by striking out all four batters faced. The Dodgers five relievers combined for five strikeouts across four perfect innings.
