CHICAGO — So much for October closer. 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 in the best playoff start of his checkered career.
The Dodgers needed a clutch pitching performance after their heartbreaking 8-4 loss in the series opener. And Kershaw produced 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.
Kenley Jansen struck out four in two perfect innings for a save.
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 5 1/3 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.
Slumping slugger Anthony Rizzo just missed a home run with a foul drive in the fourth, and then bounced out. Javier Baez and Willson Contreras hit consecutive two-out singles in the fifth for Chicago’s first baserunners against Kershaw, but Jason Heyward fouled out to third.
Nothing seemed to bother Kershaw on a muggy night at Wrigley Field. After catcher Yasmani Grandal dropped a foul popup in the seventh, Kershaw responded with a wry grin, and then struck out Ben Zobrist.
With two down and a runner on first, Baez drove Kershaw’s final pitch to the warning track in center, momentarily delighting the crowd of 42,384. But Joc Pederson was there for the catch.
Jansen backed Kershaw with flawless relief. The big right-hander struck out Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant before Rizzo lined meekly to second for the final out.
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