The Chicago Cubs are heading to the World Series.
In defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in the National League Championship Series, the Chicago Cubs, baseball’s lovable losers, have earned their first pennant since 1945.
Chicago got to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw early and ended up winning the series-clinching game 5-0.
Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo hit home runs for the Cubs, while Kyle Hendricks surrendered just two hits over 7 2/3 strong innings.
Hendricks came up big when it really mattered. Over his previous four playoff starts, he didn’t last longer than 5 1/3 innings in any game.
Hendricks turned the ball over to Aroldis Chapman who completed the win for Chicago, giving up no hits, a walk and recording one strikeout.
This sets up a World Series featuring two teams with long, proud traditions, neither of which has been able to win the big game in decades and decades.
For the Cleveland Indians, their last championship came in 1948.
The Cubs won their last title 40 years before that, in 1908. That’s 108 years without a World Series championship.
“History doesn’t really weigh on this club,” Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president for baseball operations, said before Game 6 on Saturday. “We’re just trying to win tonight’s game. These guys, a lot of them are in their early 20s, and they’re not burdened by that stuff. The organization isn’t. It’s just about trying to win and keeping it simple.”
Game One of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will take place on Tuesday, October 25th at 8:00 Eastern Time.
