10 Thoughts on NLCS Game 2 – Chicago Cubs v. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game 2 was a classic match-up of two teams bringing their A-game defensively. I was stressed out watching a game that felt like it could go either way. Going into the bottom of the 9th, it was a 1-1 game and then Justin Turner happened.

1. Game 2 paired two left-handers who brought it for 5 five innings. As I discussed in the NLDS, you know what you are getting early with Rich Hill. John Lester will probably go down as one of the best post-season pitchers in baseball history.
2. Yasiel Puig is seeing tons of pitches. He walked two times. I was entertained by all his dancing instead of swinging at bad pitches. It must be annoying to the other team or their fans. I am sure I would hate it if he were on the other teams as much as I don’t like some Javier Baez’s antics.
3. Wilson Contreras has a canon for an arm. The Dodgers don’t appear as aggressive on the bases with Contreras behind the plate.
4. Addison Russell is a Dodger-killer. He has four post-season home runs and three of them are against the Dodgers. He is the guy who scares me coming to the plate with the game on the line because he is a Dodger-killer.
5. Rich Hill’s five innings was as good as you can get from him. He had 8 strikeout and one mistake. Just as I said about Kershaw, the Dodgers didn’t need Hill to do more.
6. The fifth inning was where all the action occurred until the 9th inning. Russell hit his blast in the top half. In the bottom half, Charlie Culbertson doubled. The Dodger decided to pinch hit instead of having Rich Hill lay down a bunt (which I thought and still think is a mistake). Fortuntately Justin Turner singled Culbertson home with two outs.
7. In the 6th inning, Carl Edwards, Jr. and Brandon Morrow were lights out. Both handling the meaty parts of each team’s lineup. Morrow handled Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.
8. Kenley Jansen once again handled Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo in the ninth. He struck out Bryant and hit Rizzo in the hand.
9. I scratched my head when the Dodger sent Kyle Farmer to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. I guess Yasmani Grandal is really at the bottom of the Dodgers’ barrel when it comes to hitting.
10. 29 years to the day of Kirk Gibson’s famous home run in 1988, Justin Turner hit a game-winning 3-run home run. I remember Gibbie’s home run and we all know teams need a little bit of luck to win the series.

October 17, 2017 by craigdaron Categories: SportsTags: Baseball, Cubs, Dodgers, MLB, NLCS 2 Comments