Oct 18, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Rich Hill (44) reacts after a strike out during the sixth inning against the Chicago Cubs in game three of the 2016 NLCS playoff baseball series at Dodger Stadium. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner homered, and the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked the Chicago Cubs for the second game in a row, earning a 6-0 victory in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday.
Dodgers starter Rich Hill threw six shutout innings as Los Angeles grabbed a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series. Hill (1-0) allowed just two hits with six strikeouts and two walks to became the only Los Angeles pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw to win a postseason start this month.
Relievers Joe Blanton and Grant Dayton combined to work 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen recorded the final four outs.
Game 4 is Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
The Cubs haven’t scored since Dexter Fowler hit a solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 1 at Wrigley Field on Saturday. Fowler’s blast occurred after Miguel Montero launched a tiebreaking grand slam. Chicago managed a total of six hits in the past two games.
Turner led off the sixth with a solo home run to chase Chicago’s Jake Arrieta and provide the Dodgers with a four-run cushion. Turner, who homered for the second time in the postseason, has reached base in all eight of the Dodgers’ playoff games.
Joc Pederson added a RBI single in the eighth and scored on a Grandal groundout for the game’s final runs.
Grandal was 1-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs, while Los Angeles rookie shortstop Corey Seager went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single.
Arrieta (0-1), who threw a no-hitter the last time he pitched at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 30, 2015, surrendered four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks in five-plus innings.
Seager’s RBI single brought home Andrew Toles for a 1-0 Los Angeles lead with two outs in the third. It was the first run Arrieta yielded in his past 18 innings against the Dodgers.
In the fourth, Grandal stroked a two-run shot to right-center to make it 3-0. It was the first home run of the postseason for Grandal, who was 2-for-20 in the playoffs before going deep.
NOTES: Cubs manager Joe Maddon shook up his lineup for Game 3, moving LF Ben Zobrist to the No. 3 spot and dropped struggling 1B Anthony Rizzo to No. 4. 2B Javier Baez batted fifth instead of sixth, while SS Addison Russell hit seventh instead of fifth. RF Jorge Soler, who started in the postseason for the first time instead of Jason Heyward, was inserted in the No. 6 slot. … Dodgers RHP Kenley Jansen hasn’t given up a run in 14 of 16 career postseason games, converting all eight of his save opportunities. His eight saves are a franchise playoff record. … Cubs RHP John Lackey (0-0, 6.75 ERA in postseason) faces Dodgers LHP Julio Urias (1-0, 0.00) in Game 4 on Wednesday.
