Fatigued, upbeat and underdogs again, Cubs finally arrive for NLCS

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Cubs are fatigued, but Addison Russell (four RBIs Thursday) says they’re “more eager than anything” heading into their playoff rematch with the Dodgers.

LOS ANGELES — The Cubs can’t even be certain how they got here this time.

Seriously.

They know it involved one of the strangest, quirkiest series clinchers in National League playoff history Thursday night in Washington.

They also know it involved a charter plane touchdown in New Mexico as they swigged champagne in the wee hours of Friday morning — and a pilot who was forced to tap out in Albuquerque because he ran out of FAA-allowed hours to fly.

But they made it — their path back to the NLCS in Los Angeles no more odds-defying or impressive than their road back to the playoffs after a first-half, sub-.500 hangover this year.

They returned to L.A. for Game  1 on Saturday fatigued, upbeat and with a pitching staff in flux, preparing to face a 104-win Dodgers team that by all measures seems to have the upper hand this time, and definitely believes it does.

“We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us in the Dodgers,” said shortstop Addison Russell, who drove in four runs in Thursday’s Game 5 clincher against the Nationals, and who likes the edge the Cubs’ comeback experience in the postseason gives them in another series as underdogs. “We’ve been up and down in series. We’ve been up and down in ballgames. Especially when the big lights are on, this ballclub has been great. There’s no panic. I feel like there’s no pressure. I feel like we’re more eager than anything else.”

One of their bigger challenges at the outset of this series is the fatigue level after their overnight travel ordeal, which was caused by a family member’s panic attack on the charter plane, prompting the diversion. All was well with the family member in the end, and manager Joe Maddon said the team rallied around the incident — even when the delay eventually cost them their pilot over flight-time regulations.

They landed in L.A. around 11  a.m. local time Friday.

<em>Will the Cubs need the Pope on their side to win NLCS?</em>

Will the Cubs need the Pope on their side to win NLCS?

The bigger challenge figures to be matching up their beleaguered rotation against a formidable, rested Dodgers rotation that opens Saturday night with three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw.

Maddon said his Game 1 starter is either right-hander John Lackey, who hasn’t started since Sept.  26, or lefty Jose Quintana, who pitched well against the Nationals in a Game  3 win Monday and threw 12 pitches in relief in Game 5.

“I don’t know who’s going to throw Game 1 yet, but I think it’s coming to me,” Quintana said. “I think I’m fresh. I’m ready to go, man.”

The Cubs were expected to announce their decision early Saturday. Jon Lester, the NLCS co-MVP a year ago in the Cubs’ six-game victory over the Dodgers, is expected to start Game 2 against former Cub Rich Hill.

Even if the Cubs go with Lackey, Maddon said, it won’t necessarily affect the statuses of his four NLDS starters for starting roles in this series. He also said he didn’t expect to carry an added reliever this series after the heavy burden the staff shouldered in the first round — though he suggested the Cubs might swap out a reliever or two on the roster this time around.

<em>Maddon was the only Cub to make Friday’s workout day at Dodger Stadium.</em>

Maddon was the only Cub to make Friday’s workout day at Dodger Stadium.

That could put left-hander Justin Wilson on the roster bubble and bring right-hander Hector Rondon back into play for an NLCS role.

Either way, the Cubs like where they seem to have landed — literally and emotionally — as they open this playoff rematch.

“Right now we’re playing with that same kind of mental acumen and edge that I’ve seen the last two years,” Maddon said. “We’re going to be tired [Saturday]. Who cares? They’re going to be ready to play.”

The Cubs last played the Dodgers in May, when they were swept in three games at Dodger Stadium. Nobody seems to remember.

“Just to be going three years in a row to the NLCS is absolutely incredible,” Jake Arrieta said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons, got a lot of guys. We’ve got a lot of experience in the postseason, and we’re ready, man. We’re ready.”

Follow me on Twitter @GDubCub.

Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com

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