As the series shifted venues to Wrigley Field, I was worried the Cubs would be able to get some momentum that escaped them in Los Angeles. The Cubs are a resilient team and just needed the ball to bounce their way to get back in this series.
- Kyle Schwarber started the game off with a home run.
- After the homerun, my first thought was Yu Darvish may not have it tonight. However like I have said of Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, we only need five good innings.
- Andre Ethier’s homerun in the top of the 2nd inning was a surprise that couldn’t have happened to a better person. Ethier had been recovering from injuries all season, and I am not sure how healthy he is right now, so stepping in at that time was a big contribution going 2 for 3 with some great verteran hitting.
- Chris Taylor hit another home run. As I have said before, he is my MVP for this team and maybe should be MVP of the NLCS. He followed up the home rune with a triple.
- Joc Pederson’s double was another big hit for a guy who really needed a big hit.
- More surprising was Yu Darvish drawing a walk off of Carl Edwards, Jr. I thought Edwards had exorcised his demons in Game 2. However walking the opposing team’s pitcher on four pitches with the bases loaded shows there are still some demons to be worked out.
- Scoring on a pass ball in the 7th was a sign to me that the Cubs were melting down. The frustration was kicking in as they had leads in all three games only to see them disappear.
- The bullpen was once again lights out. They have retired 29 of 31 Cub hitters they have faced in the NLCS.
- Ross Stripling came in and gave up the two black marks on the bullpen record.
- Kenley Jansen is un-hittable right now. It is not even worth trying when you are facing him.
1A Sports Blog 