NEWSLETTER
Hello, my friends. This could be the start of something good.
The National League Championship Series kicks off tonight at Wrigley Field, as the Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off a well-fought 3-2 NLDS win over the Nationals, will come into town to face the well-rested Cubs.
Jon Lester takes the ball for the Cubs as he did in Game One of the NLDS, and if he pitches even 90% as well as he did that night, the Cubs are going to be plenty happy. In theory, he’s got a great match-up against a team that simply doesn’t hit lefties well, and against whom he’s notched 15 consecutive scoreless innings.
Then again, the wind could be a factor tonight if it continues to howl out as it has been for much of the day.
On the other side of the bump, Kenta Maeda gets the start for a Dodgers team that would presumably love to see him go deep and require minimal relief involvement. However, as Michael wrote earlier today, that hasn’t been Maeda’s MO this year. If the Cubs are on, they can make Maeda work, which is when he starts to struggle.
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Game Info
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs – 7:00pm CT on FS1, 670 The Score, ESPN Radio
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun.
The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Jon Lester (L): 2.44 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 3.47 xFIP; 3.79 K/BB
versus
Dodgers: Kenta Maeda (R): 3.48 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 3.70 xFIP; 3.58 K/BB
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Los Angeles Dodgers:
- Howie Kendrick, LF
- Justin Turner, 3B
- Corey Seager, SS
- Yasiel Puig, RF
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Carlos Ruiz, C
- Enrique Hernandez, 2B
- Joc Pederson, CF
- Kenta Maeda, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, LF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- David Ross, C
- Jon Lester, P
