NLCS preview CUBS vs. DODGERS
Game 1: 7:08 p.m. Saturday at Chicago (FS1)
the teams
Cubs (103-58, Central Division champ): Favorites since Opening Day, Chicago entered the playoffs with an excited fan base hoping that the first championship in more than a century was finally around the corner. The Cubs knocked off San Francisco in a thrilling NLDS, rallying for four runs in the ninth inning of Game 4 to secure a second consecutive trip to the NLCS.
Dodgers (91-71, West Division champ): Los Angeles squeezed past Washington in five games in the NLDS, with all three victories coming by one run. Now the Dodgers will try to make their first World Series since last winning it all in 1988: Los Angeles was beaten in the NLCS three times from 2008 to '13, then lost in the NLDS each of the past two years.
Head to head
The Cubs won the season series 4-3, but they didn't see any of the Dodgers starters they will see this series; they missed both ace Clayton Kershaw and Game 1 starter Kenta Maeda, and Los Angeles acquired Rich Hill from Oakland on Aug. 1.
Five things to watch
Swings and misses: Dodgers pitchers recorded 1,510 strikeouts, a major league record. The Cubs weren't too far behind, with 1,441 strikeouts to rank third in the major leagues.
More than just pitchers: The Cubs hit .200 vs. the Giants. A big chunk of their offense came from pitchers: Jake Arrieta and Travis Wood each hit a home run, and those two along with Kyle Hendricks accounted for six of team's 17 RBI.
Bryant's roll: One Cubs star who did hit well in the NLDS was Kris Bryant, a favorite for NL MVP. Last year's Rookie of the Year hit 6-for-16 with a tying ninth-inning homer in Game 3, after the 24-year-old hit 39 homers with 102 RBI this season.
Hendricks' forearm: Hendricks will start Game 2 for Chicago. He left Game 2 of the NLDS when a comebacker went off his right forearm. He was 9-2 with a 1.32 ERA at home this year.
