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Cubs heading to first World Series in 71 years

It's OK to say it now: The Chicago Cubs are going to the World Series.

Repeat: The Chicago Cubs are going to the World Series.

A self-assured 5-0 victory Saturday night over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field in Game 6 of the National League championship series sent to the Cubs to their first Fall Classic since the immediate post-World War II days of 1945.

Getting solid pitching from Kyle Hendricks and home runs from Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs wrapped up the NLCS in six games after having been down two games to one. They scored 5 runs against Dodgers ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw. The co-MVPs of the series were infielder Javier Baez and pitcher Jon Lester.

The Cubs will meet the Cleveland Indians in a World Series matchup featuring charter members of the National and American Leagues. The Series begins Tuesday in Cleveland at Progressive Field.

The Cubs will be seeking their first world championship since 1908, but for the 42,386 fans in the ballpark and the thousands on the streets outside, getting to the World Series was sweet relief. Cubs teams in 1984 and 2003 were one victory away from the series, but each of those teams lost the final three games of their championship series.

“The magic number is 4,” Rizzo said. “Four games. Cleveland. That city is deserving of the World Series, too. It's going to be a clash of two cities that have been in a long drought, and this is really good for baseball.

“We see the signs saying, 'It's happening.' All these signs, all the fans bringing it. And here we are.”

The pennant clincher resonated with the young and the young at heart.

“I can't believe it,” said Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams. “I'm standing here on the field, and all of a sudden, we're in the World Series. Man, I'm telling you, this is really, really something. Standing on the field here. Standing on this sacred ground, celebrating tonight, is a great feeling.”

The Cubs once again got a solid, team effort in the pennant-clincher. The 26-year-old Hendricks was sailing in calm waters all night. He gave up a single to Andrew Toles to begin the ballgame, and that was it until Josh Reddick singled with one out in the eighth.

At that point, manager Joe Maddon turned to closer Aroldis Chapman, who got pinch hitter Howie Kendrick on a 4-6-3 double play, as Cubs second baseman Javier Baez played the ball on the short hop to start the inning-ending play.

The game ended with another double play, with Yasiel Puig going out 6-4-3, and the celebration was on.

“It's one of those things that it's everything you think it is, but then again you have to — you need time to really process the entire situation,” said Maddon, in his second year with the team. “You stand out on that platform afterward and you're looking at the ballpark and the fans and the 'W' flags everywhere, and truthfully I do think about everybody, I think about the fans and their parents and their grandparents and great-grandparents and everything that's been going on here for a while.”

The Cubs got things going right away with 2 runs in the first. Dexter Fowler led off with a double and came home when Kris Bryant singled to right. Rizzo came up and hit a flyball to left field. Toles dropped it for an error, putting runners on second and third.

Ben Zobrist followed with a sacrifice fly to center. The Cubs got no more runs in the first, but they ran Kershaw's pitch count up to 30.

Addison Russell led off the Cubs second with a double to the wall in left. Albert Almora Jr. grounded out to third, and Hendricks struck out. Fowler saved the inning with an RBI single to score Addison Russell.

Rookie catcher Willson Contreras led off the bottom of the fourth by hitting a line-drive home run to left. It was Rizzo's turn in the fifth, as he homered to right.

Hendricks, the major leagues' ERA champion, was calm and cool all night.

“That was my one goal coming into the game,” he said. “I knew it wasn't just me. It was a team effort. It has been all year long. All I had to do was keep my team in the game. That brings the pressure down a lot.”

Before heading into the clubhouse, the team celebrated on the field, in front of the fans. Everyone was there, from team chairman Tom Ricketts, to general manager Jed Hoyer to baseball president Theo Epstein, who took over in the fall of 2011 and transformed the Cubs into a team that is now National League champions.

“Kind of soaking it all in,” Epstein said. “Really happy but also still focused on winning four more games at the same time … More happiness, pride in our organization and our players and more excitement about the Fall Classic coming to Wrigley Field for our fans.”

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.

An early Schwarber return?

Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.comChicago Cubs third baseman Javier Baez (9) reacts after fielding a double play in the first inning during Game 6 of baseball's National League championship series, Oct, 22 2016, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
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