The Cubs and Dodgers square off tonight (7:08pm CDT) in Game 5 of the NLCS. Jon Lester gets the ball for the Cubs in a Game 1 rematch with right-hander Kenta Maeda. And Joe Maddon is running out his regular Lester Lineup.
David Ross is behind the plate in his final career game at Dodger Stadium. Javier Baez is playing second base with Ben Zobrist in left field. Maddon is sticking with an outfield of Zobrist, Dexter Fowler (CF) and Jason Heyward (RF).
Maddon’s lineup for Game 5 with Lester on the hill is as expected, just in a slightly different order.
Cubs batting order: Dexter Fowler CF, Kris Bryant 3B, Anthony Rizzo 1B, Ben Zobrist LF, Javier Baez 2B, Jason Heyward RF, Addison Russell SS, David Ross C, Jon Lester P
Kenta Maeda’s splits are rather significant. Left-handers have a .730 OPS against Maeda this season. Lefties hit .247/.328/.401 with 25 extra basehits (14 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs) and 33 walks with 65 strikeouts. Right-handers have a .580 OPS with a .213/.257/.323 slash line. Righties had 18 extra basehits (seven doubles, one triple, 10 home runs) with 17 walks and 114 strikeouts.
Joe Maddon has Willson Contreras, Miguel Montero, Chris Coghlan, Albert Almora Jr. and Jorge Soler on his bench to start the Game 5.
The best-of-seven National League Championship Series is tied (2-2) at two games apiece and is now a best-of-three series with games six and seven at Wrigley Field.