Most everyone had already assumed the Cubs would pitch Kyle Hendricks in Wednesday’s Game 1, followed by Yu Darvish on Thursday and Jon Lester if necessary for Game 3, and David Ross made it official Tuesday afternoon. Hendricks opened the season with a complete game shutout against the Brewers, then ran into some bumps on the road before posting a 1.45 ERA over five masterful September starts.
Darvish finished strong as well, bouncing back from a trio of either forgettable or blah efforts to shut the White Sox out over seven innings last Friday. The big righty compiled a 2.