Jon Lester was cruising through the first 10 outs of Thursday’s game, striking out four and getting another four outs via the grounder. His offense had staked him to a 3-0 lead on the strength of a pair of home runs, both of which came against all-world southpaw Clayton Kershaw. Kyle Schwarber’s bomb was the first Kershaw had surrendered to a lefty this season, and it came on the first pitch.
That felt like a sign, as did Kris Bryant going oppo for a two-run shot in the 3rd inning. The early going had a similar feeling to Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS, with the Cubs jumping all over a hittable Kershaw and imposing their will on the Dodgers.