NLCS Game 2: Cubs Look to Avoid 0-2 Hole in LA

Rich Hill Ready for Cubs in 2017 NLCS

The 2017 NLCS Game 2 has the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers meeting at Chavez Ravine. The first pitch is set for 8:08 pm EST. TBS will televise the game.

Rich Hill was ready to start a winner-take-all game in the 2016 NLCS. The Chicago Cubs upended Clayton Kershaw in Game 6. The Cubs advanced to the World Series and they ended a 108-year championship drought.

While Sunday's outing won't send the Dodgers to the World Series, it would give the Dodgers a decisive 2-0 lead. With the series shifting to Chicago on Tuesday, this could be major, especially if the Dodgers can steal one in Chicago.

Oddsmakers have the Dodgers as a -155-moneyline favorite. The total is at 7.5.

Cubs Turn to Lester in Game 2 on NLCS

Cubs starter Jon Lester will be ready. He will not be the least bit intimidated. Lester gets the call knowing he was on the mound for two of the four victories in last year's NLCS.

Lester was only named the Game 2 starter Saturday morning. He threw 51 pitches in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday. Lester will come into the outing on just three days' rest. He also pitched in Game 2 of the NLDS. That was a game the Cubs lost to the Nationals.

Trailing by one game in the NLCS to the Dodgers is not new for the Cubs. They were down 2-1 in last year's NLCS. They reeled off three consecutive victories, including the clincher against Kershaw.

Hill No Stranger to the NLCS

Hill was the pitcher who put the Dodgers on top in last year's NLCS. He cruised with six shutout innings in Game 3. The Dodgers had handcuffed the Cubs' offense to that point. Hill doesn't like to make comparisons year to year. It is almost impossible to avoid looking back to last year's playoff outing.

Hill will be a mystery to most Cubs hitters. Most of them haven't faced him yet. The Cubs could do some damage because they finished eighth in the league with a .777 OPS against left-handers.

In his start against the Diamondbacks in the NLDS, Hill didn’t have his best command. He struggled through 78 pitches in just four innings. Hill  allowed two runs off three hits and three walks. It marked his second-lowest rate of strikes in a start this season.

Recent Form

Team	record	money	vs LHP	vs RHP	Fave	Dog	O/U	Diff
Chi Cubs	95-73	-$639.00	22-16	73-57	82-61	13-11	76-82-10	0.72
LA Dodgers	108-58	$44.00	35-15	73-43	104-54	3-4	80-80-6	1.22

Pitchers Last 3 Starts

J Lester (13-8) ERA: 4.21

event date	Opponent	Result	score	OU Result	ip	money
Oct 7, 2017	WSH	L	3-6	O	6	-$100.00
Sep 30, 2017	CIN	W	9-0	O	5	$49.00
Sep 25, 2017	STL	W	10-2	O	6	$130.00

R Hill (12-8) ERA: 3.35

event date	Opponent	Result	score	OU Result	ip	money
Oct 7, 2017	ARI	W	8-5	O	4	$70.00
Sep 27, 2017	SD	W	10-0	O	7	$40.00
Sep 22, 2017	SF	W	4-2	U	6	$45.00

Bullpen

Chi Cubs's relievers have pitched 13 innings in the last 3 games.
LA Dodgers's relievers have pitched 13 innings in the last 3 games.

Pitcher Recent Starts Vs Opponent

Chicago Cubs - J Lester

Date	score	Winner	ip	hits	Runs	Earned Runs	walks	strikeouts	Decision
May 28, 2017	9-4	LA	3.1	7	6	6	2	3	Loss
Apr 10, 2017	3-2	CHC	6	4	1	1	1	7	No Decision
Oct 20, 2016	8-4	CHC	7	5	1	1	1	6	Win
Oct 15, 2016	8-4	CHC	6	4	1	1	1	3	No Decision
Aug 28, 2016	1-0	LA	6	3	0	0	2	6	No Decision

Los Angeles Dodgers - R Hill

Date	score	Winner	ip	hits	Runs	Earned Runs	walks	strikeouts	Decision
Oct 18, 2016	6-0	LA	6	2	0	0	2	6	Win

NLCS Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	5.01	8	3.57	2
Away Team Away Scoring vs Home Team Home Defense	4.74	11	3.32	1
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	4.79	12	4.29	8
Home Team Home Scoring vs Away Team Road Defense	5.00	11	4.06	6

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	away score	Home	home score	line	O/U	Away Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Away Hits	Home Hits	Away Walks	Home Walks	Away Strikeouts	Home Strikeouts
Oct 14, 2017	CHC	2	LA	5			O	Jose Quintana (L)	Clayton Kershaw (L)	4	8	1	4	9	6
May 28, 2017	CHC	4	LA	9	-160	6.5	O	Jon Lester (L)	Clayton Kershaw (L)	11	11	3	5	12	10
May 27, 2017	CHC	0	LA	5	-116	7.5	U	John Lackey (R)	Brandon McCarthy (R)	3	6	1	6	8	11
May 26, 2017	CHC	0	LA	4	-136	7	U	Jake Arrieta (R)	Alex Wood (L)	2	5	3	3	10	12
Apr 13, 2017	LA	0	CHC	4	-120	7.5	U	Hyun-Jin Ryu (L)	Brett Anderson (L)	6	8	4	4	5	9
Apr 12, 2017	LA	2	CHC	0	-122	7	U	Brandon McCarthy (R)	John Lackey (R)	5	5	6	3	14	9
Apr 10, 2017	LA	2	CHC	3	-151	7.5	U	Alex Wood (L)	Jon Lester (L)	6	6	3	7	10	10
Oct 22, 2016	LA	0	CHC	5	116	6.5	U	Clayton Kershaw (L)	Kyle Hendricks (R)	2	7	1	0	7	8
Oct 20, 2016	CHC	8	LA	4	148	7	O	Jon Lester (L)	Kenta Maeda (R)	13	9	4	2	9	6
Oct 19, 2016	CHC	10	LA	2	-109	7	O	John Lackey (R)	Julio Urias (L)	13	6	3	5	8	8

NLCS Betting Trends

Chicago Cubs
Chi Cubs is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games
Chi Cubs is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games on the road
Chi Cubs is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing LA Dodgers
Chi Cubs is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against LA Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers
LA Dodgers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
LA Dodgers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
LA Dodgers is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Chi Cubs
LA Dodgers is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs

Team Vs Division Or Conference

Chicago Cubs

	record	Home	Away	Fave	Dog	O/U	vs LHP	vs RHP
Overall	95-73	49-34	46-39	82-58	13-14	76-82-9	22-16	73-57
Last 10	6-4	3-2	3-2	3-1	3-2	4-5	1-2	5-2
vs Div	46-30	22-15	24-15	40-28	6-2	37-37-2	4-3	42-27
vs AL	12-8	5-5	7-3	10-6	2-2	11-7-2	4-4	8-4
vs NL	83-65	44-29	39-36	72-52	11-12	65-75-7	18-12	65-53

Los Angeles Dodgers

	record	Home	Away	Fave	Dog	O/U	vs LHP	vs RHP
Overall	108-58	60-24	48-34	104-53	4-5	80-80-5	35-15	73-43
Last 10	9-1	6-0	3-1	8-1	0-0	5-4	5-0	4-1
vs Div	44-35	25-15	19-20	44-35	1-0	41-37-1	23-11	21-24
vs AL	16-4	9-1	7-3	15-4	1-0	9-9-2	3-0	13-4
vs NL	92-54	51-23	41-31	89-49	3-5	71-71-3	32-15	60-39

Team Last 5 Games

Chicago Cubs

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	starter	ip	opposing starter	Location
Oct 14, 2017	LA	2-5	L			J Quintana	5	C Kershaw	A
Oct 12, 2017	WSH	9-8	W	-118	7.5	K Hendricks	4	G Gonzalez	A
Oct 11, 2017	WSH	0-5	L	-104	7	J Arrieta	4	S Strasburg	H
Oct 9, 2017	WSH	2-1	W	100	7.5	J Quintana	5.2	M Scherzer	H
Oct 7, 2017	WSH	3-6	L	108	8.5	J Lester	6	G Gonzalez	A

Los Angeles Dodgers

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	starter	ip	opposing starter	Location
Oct 14, 2017	CHC	5-2	W			C Kershaw	5	J Quintana	H
Oct 9, 2017	ARI	3-1	W	-115	9	Y Darvish	5	Z Greinke	A
Oct 7, 2017	ARI	8-5	W	-142	8	R Hill	4	Robbie Ray	H
Oct 6, 2017	ARI	9-5	W	-252	7.5	C Kershaw	6.1	T Walker	H
Oct 1, 2017	COL	6-3	W	-150	11	Ross Stripling	2	Kyle Freeland	A

Weather in
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