Dodgers’ bullpen, Jansen continue domination of Cubs

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Kenley Jansen #74 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs during game two of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775058998

LOS ANGELES – Kenta Maeda was next in line in the Dodgers’ stellar bullpen, warmed up and ready to follow Kenley Jansen’s latest dominant performance and pitch the 10th inning in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Cubs.

“I was hoping for a walk-off,’’ he said through a translator.

Maeda’s wish, as everyone in southern California might have known hearing the thunderous roar and rumble coming from delirious Dodger Stadium, was granted with Justin Turner’s home run.

The three-run blast against John Lackey, a starter turned reliever like Maeda, scored another win for a bullpen that might just carry the Dodgers to the World Series from the sixth inning to the back end where Jansen looms.

A night after three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw was required to pitch only five innings, fellow left-hander Rich Hill was done after five even though he only allowed one run on three hits.

This is the way the Dodgers, whose starters probably aren’t as good as the Cubs’ but whose relievers are superior, are going to do it.

“Those guys know exactly what they want to do, and they’re going out there and executing pitches,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Everybody is pitching in. While Lackey’s somewhat clumsy transition to relief was done on short notice and probably out of necessity for the Cubs, Maeda’s shift to the pen where he has excelled stacked just one more primo piece on a stellar unit.

“It takes a lot of people to get to where we want to get to,’’ Robert said. “A lot of guys — everyone feels included, relevant and a part of this.’’

The Dodgers have depth and Jansen, their $80 million closer who on Sunday night pitched a hitless inning featuring strikeouts of the struggling Kris Bryant and cleanup man Willson Contreras. Hitting Anthony Rizzo on the hand made things only wee bit tense for the right-hander who saved Game 1 by striking out all four batters he faced and got the win by entering a tie game and pretty much buzzing through the heart of the Cubs order.

In Game 1, the five relievers combined to pitch four perfect innings with Maeda getting the win.

There isn’t a weak link in the bunch. Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson were added before the trade deadline, Maeda started most of the year and Morrow opened the season in the minors. They also have Josh Fields.

“They are really executing quality pitches in big situations,’’ catcher Austin Barnes said.

Morrow retired all six batters he faced in Game 2 and floored TBS analyst Ron Darling.

“I knew he was good,’’ Darling, a former pitcher, said. “I didn’t know he was this good.’’

“You see his stuff,’’ Barnes said. “It’s 98-100 and it’s coming at you. He’s been an unsung here for us, really. What he’s done for us can’t go unnoticed.’’

Not so with Jansen, the leader of the pack.

“We know how short we felt last year,’’ he said. “And the Cubs deserved it last year. The fact that we see how close we got, and we know it’s unfinished business, and we have that goal. We’ve been talking about it in January. When we got to Spring Training we had that mindset. And we’ve been talking about it the whole year.’’

And doing it the Dodger way, a trending thing in baseball.

“Rich was pretty much cruising, gave up the one hard hit ball, and go through five and you look at the bullpen,’’ Cubs starter Jon Lester said. “You’re dealing with them.

“I would have thought that Rich would have had a couple more innings there. The game’s definitely changed on that aspect of it.’’

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