Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers: NLCS Game 2 GameThread...

Chicago Cubs’ lefty Jon Lester took the loss in Game 2 of the NLDS matchup with the Washington Nationals, in spite of the fact that he surrendered just two hits and one run in six innings. He came back for a relief appearance in Game 4, giving up one hit and one run in 3 ²⁄₃ innings in what ended up a 5-0 loss.

Tonight in LA, the 33-year-old southpaw takes on the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Lester talked in his pre-start press conference about the lineup he’ll be facing in Los Angeles.

“Obviously pretty dangerous. You lose -- you just saw today they lost a big bat at shortstop,” Lester said, referring to Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager, who wasn’t included on LA’s NLCS roster (back injury).

“You don't ever want to see anybody go down, but that definitely helps us on the pitching side. He's a huge presence in their lineup.

“I think it's just like anything this time of year, you have to try to hold back momentum as best you can. You can't let those guys string hits together, long at-bats, foul balls, stuff like that. So if you're able to kind of control that, you see these guys feed off the energy, especially here at Dodger Stadium. So if you can kind of keep that down as best you can, I think it gives you a chance.”

LA lefty Rich Hill started against the Cubs in last season’s NLCS matchup, and he takes the mound again tonight as the defending World Series champs look to even things up in the best-of-seven series.

He was asked last night if there was anything he remembered from that outing that he can take into Game 2.

“I think it's, again, a similar situation to where we were last year,” Hill said, of taking the mound in what was a 1-1 series last year that was 2-1 in the Dodgers’ favor after he threw six scoreless in what ended up a 6-0 win.

“But at the same time, these guys are now the defending champs,” Hill continued, “... so it's actually -- last year we wanted to beat the best, and we thought the Cubs were the best. Unfortunately, we didn't get through that round.

“But what we gained in experience was huge to get to this point. So a lot of guys that were on that roster last year with the Dodgers are back again this year, and we're able to feed off of those experiences from last year and understand that where we got to, it wasn't such a failure. It was more of a learning point in moving forward.”

Hill lasted just four innings in his NLDS start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with three hits, three walks, and two earned runs allowed in what ended up an 8-5 loss to the D-Backs. He makes his second Postseason start of 2017, and the sixth postseason start of his career tonight in Game 2 of the NLCS.

HERE ARE THE LINEUPS FOR GAME 2 BETWEEN THE DODGERS AND CUBS: