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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;CHICAGO\u2014It had been 36 days since the Cubs were held to so few hits and just 72 hours since Clayton Kershaw last appeared in a game. In the calculus of baseball, we have now proven that the limit of the Dodgers\u2019 ace approaches infinity.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Kershaw left Sunday night\u2019s 1\u20130 Dodgers win after the seventh inning, he\u2019d allowed just two hits. He\u2019d thrown 201 pitches since Tuesday\u2014seven of which came in Thursday\u2019s relief appearance\u2014and warmed up for three different games. In the 91 pitches he\u2019s tossed on short rest over the past four days, he\u2019s allowed just three runners on base. That is to say: He\u2019s been unstoppable.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sunday night, on just two days rest, Kershaw\u2019s fastball was as sharp as ever, his slider effective; only his curveball showed signs of fatigue, and so he simply cut down on dealing it. He was perfect through 4 2/3 innings and knocked the wind out of a lineup that\u2019s been sluggish at times but has produced clutch hit after clutch hit these playoffs, sending the Cubs on their way to Los Angeles with the NLCS tied and a more-than-likely date for Game 5 on Thursday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NLCS should pass through Kershaw once more, and whether the Cubs can figure out his stuff may determine their fate.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a subdued clubhouse after Game 2, Chicago catcher Miguel Montero offered no excuses. He didn\u2019t face Kershaw, but he watched his teammates look at\u2014and miss\u2014strike after strike. \"You're facing that type of pitcher,\u201D he said, \u201Cyou've got to be ready to hit strikes, and he was pumping strikes. You go to the plate and see pitches, you're going to find yourself on the bench, 0\u20133, because you strike out.\" And so the Cubs swung\u2014and failed to connect, their most promising ball of the night coming on a curveball and Javier Baez flyout to deep center field. \"If you're going to sit back and be 0\u20132 right away, if that's the case, you've got to hit,\u201D first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who went 0 for 3, explained.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Verducci: How managerial madness les to Cubs\u2019 NLCS Game 1 win&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Going into the game, it was impossible to know what to expect from Kershaw. There\u2019s no script for an ace closing out a game and then facing baseball\u2019s most imposing lineup three days later. When he came out sharp early, there was still cause for Chicago to hope for fatigue, for a breakdown, but none came. Even in the seventh inning, which has been Kershaw\u2019s playoff hellscape (he came into Sunday with a 23.8 ERA in that frame), he recovered from a leadoff walk to Rizzo by striking out Ben Zobrist and inducing two fly-ball outs. \"The thing I was really curious about,\u201D Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, \u201Cwas velocity and location, and he had both.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the Dodgers, Sunday\u2019s game was a must-win\u2014in that it guaranteed a Thursday Game 5, and likely another Kershaw start before this thing is over. And with the Cubs set to roll out Jake Arrieta on Tuesday (albeit against Rich Hill and his 2.12 regular-season ERA) and John Lackey on Wednesday, the probable Kershaw-Jon Lester matchup in the final game in Los Angeles has to give the Dodgers some comfort.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Cub Hub: All of SI's content from Chicago's magical season&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rizzo did point out Sunday that he feels the Cubs could have an advantage facing Kershaw for the second time this series\u2014but with a qualifier. This is the postseason, where nothing makes sense, and barring further theatrics the ace they\u2019ll see will be on full rest. (In fact, it\u2019ll be just the second time the Cubs have seen Kershaw this year; he did not face them at all in the regular season.)\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With Sunday\u2019s outing, Kershaw lowered his career postseason ERA to 4.39, a far cry from his regular-season 2.37 mark. Still, it\u2019s hardly the stuff of horror that his playoff resume is made out to be, and the Cubs, who have batted a collective .214 this October, can\u2019t bear his inconsistent postseason past in mind. The biggest obstacle standing between them and the World Series is a 6'4\" lefty whose curveball will be back in form by Thursday.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/10/17/clayton-kershaw-nlcs-dodgers-cubs-game-2>