Kershaw steps on the gas as Dodgers even NLCS with Cubs

So much for Clayton Kershaw being tired.

Taking the mound against the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of the National League championship series at Wrigley Field after closing out Game 5 of the National League division series Thursday night, after starting Games 1 and 3 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals while throwing a combined 211 pitches, Kershaw insisted he was good to go.

"I'm not going in with any restrictions," the Dodgers' ace left-hander said. "No excuses at this point."

No excuses necessary.

For as good as Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was Sunday night, Kershaw was even better.

"I was more a little concerned," Kershaw said after allowing just 2 hits over 7 innings in Los Angeles' 1-0 win over the Cubs. "As a starting pitcher, you like to be routine oriented, every four days kind of know what you're going to do. Obviously, my last seven or eight days have been a little different. Kind of going into the unexpected, that was more my concern than the workload."

Kershaw didn't have much of a curveball, but his fastball and slider were in midseason form as he buzzed through the Cubs' lineup while throwing 84 pitches (55 strikes).

"Give him credit," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He really pitched with his fastball and kept the ball off our barrel."

Kershaw retired the first 14 hitters he faced before Javier Baez broke through with a single to center on a hanging curve with two outs in the fifth inning.

Kershaw did it a bump in the seventh inning when he issued a leadoff walk to Anthony Rizzo on four pitches and Ben Zobrist followed with a foul popup that Los Angeles catcher Yasmani Grandal dropped for an error.

Undeterred, Kershaw struck out Zobrist looking and got Addison Russell to fly out to left field.

With the dangerous Baez on deck, Roberts made a mound visit.

"I had every intent to go out there and get him," Roberts said. "I looked him in the eye, and the confidence Clayton has, he said, 'We can get this guy.' That's all I needed to hear."

Baez almost made Kershaw and Roberts look bad with a deep drive to center field, but Joc Pederson made the catch in front of the wall.

"I knew he hit it pretty good," Kershaw said. "I kind of talked my way in and they had that trust in me. Fortunately he hit it at somebody."

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