Kershaw, Dodgers blank Cubs
Associated Press
CHICAGO
With his Dodgers desperate for a win, Clayton Kershaw delivered the most dominant start of his checkered playoff career.
The ace left-hander pitched seven sparkling innings, Adrian Gonzalez homered and Los Angeles beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 Sunday night to tie the NL Championship Series at a game apiece.
Kershaw retired his first 14 batters and allowed just two hits in first outing since he pitched three times in the NL Division Series, including a two-out save in Game 5 on Thursday night in Washington. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner struck out six and walked one while throwing just 84 pitches in a brisk outing that could help when he returns later in the NLCS.
“It was one of those games where one pitch could have been the deciding factor,” Kershaw said. “So, really just kind of couldn’t look up for a minute for air and just kind of kept going through it and fortunate to get through it tonight.”
The Dodgers needed a clutch pitching performance after their heartbreaking 8-4 loss in the series opener. And Kershaw responded with a postseason gem that continued his reputation repair after a handful of playoff duds over the years. He was just 3-6 with a 4.79 ERA in 16 career postseason games coming into the series.
“I feel like every start he has the chance to be great,” catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “It’s just unbelievable to see him pitch, it’s unbelievable to see him compete.”
Kenley Jansen struck out four in two perfect innings for his third save of the playoffs.
Game 3 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta, who pitched a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium last August, faces left-hander Rich Hill, who worked a total of seven innings in two starts in the Division Series against the Nationals.
The Cubs lost a 1-0 game in the postseason for the first time since Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox blanked them in the 1918 World Series opener.
Chicago, trying for its first pennant in 71 years, wasted a solid start by major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks, who pitched 51/3 innings of three-hit ball in his first outing since he left his Division Series start against San Francisco with a bruised right forearm.
Hendricks’ only mistake was a second-inning fastball that Gonzalez drove over the wall in left-center for his second homer of the playoffs. Gonzalez also had a tying two-run single in the eighth inning of the series opener, but Miguel Montero’s pinch-hit grand slam was the big blow in a dramatic win for Chicago.
A day later, the Cubs couldn’t get anything going against Kershaw.