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Montero grand slam powers Cubs to 8-4 Game 1 win

There's nobody in baseball who says "bring it on" to the second-guessing barroom banter quite like Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon.

Saturday night's opener of the National League championship series will keep those second-guessers going until the egg nog runs out on Christmas Day, and that's even with the Cubs winning.

Miguel Montero hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and lift the Cubs to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and possibly set the tone for the rest of this series.

Montero's blast came on an 0-2 pitch from Joe Blanton with two outs. Dexter Fowler immediately followed with a homer to right, and a nervous crowd of 42,376 went into party mode.

"Obviously as a kid you always dream of the situations," Montero said. "And that's what you live for. It's easy to hit a grand slam in the first inning when nobody is actually screaming at it, and this one is a lot more special because it's in front of this special crowd that we have, and you're always looking for that."

According to Elias, this was the first time in major-league history that a pinch-hit grand slam provided the game-winning run in a postseason game.

The Cubs had given up a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth, swinging momentum the Dodgers. But the Cubs left the ballpark feeling pretty good about things in the end.

"As far as Game 1, this is a long series," said starting pitcher Jon Lester, the subject of intrigue himself. "But anytime you're able to win Game 1, that's obviously a huge boost in the clubhouse."

Now for what's sure to be a treasure trove for the second-guessers on both sides. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walked pinch hitter Chris Coghlan intentionally with runners on first and second to get to Montero.

The Montero slam came on the heels of some moves by Maddon that might have had some Cubs fans scratching their heads. He pulled starting pitcher Jon Lester for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth in an effort to add on runs with a 3-1 lead. Lester had thrown only 77 pitches, and the move didn't pay off, as Jorge Soler grounded out to end the inning.

"I just thought that tonight, Jon wasn't really on top of his game," Maddon said. "There was a chance to put add-on runs in that particular moment."

For the second time this postseason, Maddon brought closer Aroldis Chapman in for a possible 6-out save, this time with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth. Chapman struck out first two batters he faced before Adrian Gonzalez lined a game-tying 2-run single to center field.

"Yeah, we had no choice," Maddon said. "I did not want to do that again. He strikes out the first two guys and then Adrian has a great at-bat. So what are you going to do about it? You just got to move on. But give Chappy credit for keeping it at 2 (runs). Now, there's the argumentative part where we did not lose the lead."

There were several big moments for the Cubs in this game, in the field and on the basepaths.

They came out flying, as Fowler led off the bottom of the first against Kenta Maeda with a single. He scored on Kris Bryant's double to left.

The Cubs continued their good work in the second inning. Jason Heyward lined a leadoff triple to the right-field corner to start the inning.

Javier Baez, who has stolen the show for the Cubs this postseason, did what he's been doing best by dropping a double into short center field to score Heyward. Baez, a savvy baserunner for his young age, read the play all the way and made it into second base easily.

David Ross flied out to center, and with Lester at the plate, Maeda uncorked a wild pitch. The Dodgers immediately suspected the Cubs might try to squeeze Baez home, as they held an infield meeting and brought first baseman Gonzalez in.

Lester showed bunt but did not offer. Baez had strayed off the bag, and Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz fired the ball to third. Baez sprinted home and beat the throw by Justin Turner. The play was scored a steal of home, the Cubs' first in a postseason game since Jimmy Slagle did so in Game 4 of the 1907 World Series.

The Wrigley Field winds did Lester no favors as the Dodgers scored a run in the fifth.

With two outs, Andre Ethier batted for Maeda and lofted a flyball to left. A south wind helped to lift it into the bleachers for a home run, cutting the Cubs' lead to 3-1.

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John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.comChicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist (18) reacts after his lead off double in the eighth inning during Game 1of baseball's National League championship series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oct, 15 2016, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.comChicago Cubs third baseman Javier Baez (9) reacts after flying out in the fourth inning during Game 1of baseball's National League championship series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oct, 15 2016, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
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