The Cubs are one win away from advancingto the World Series for the first time since 1945 thanks to a 8-4win Thursday in Game 5 of the NationalLeague Championship Series.

Cubs starter Jon Lester delivered seveninnings of one-run ball in Los Angeles, limiting the Dodgers to fivehitsbefore Pedro Stropand Aroldis Chapmanclosed out the victory. The Brandon Finnegan Jersey remainder of the best-of-sevenseries will be played in Chicago.

With his go-aheadtwo-run homer in the sixth inning, the Cubs'Addison Ru sell became the second-youngest shortstop in postseason history to homer in consecutive games. The Cubs added fiveruns in the eighth inning onRBI infieldsingles by Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant, and a three-run double by JavierBaez.

Three takeaways from Chicago's win:

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1. Mind gamesdon't affect Lester. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts his players were going to take "huge leads" and try to bunt on Lester to"try to get in his psyche a little bit." Lester is known as Homer Bailey Jersey being a bad defender who rarely throws to first to hold runners.The Dodgers who did get on base against Lester took some drastic measures to try todistract him, but Blank Jersey Lester was unfazed.

Lester finished with six strikeouts while throwing108 pitches.The stellar playoff performance is nothing new for Lester, who now has nine postseason starts of six-plus innings with one or fewer runs allowed, the sixth-most such games in MLB history. OnlyTom Glavine (14), Andy Pettitte (12), Curt Schilling (11), John Smoltz and RogerClemens (10)have more.

2. The Dodgers shook up their lineup to no avail.Roberts benched Chase Utley, Josh Reddick,Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Toles (all but Grandal are left-handed hitters, and Grandal is a switch hitter)in favor of righty-swingingCarlos Ruiz, Howie Kendrick, Yasiel Puig and KikeHernandez to provide a spark against the left-handed Lester.

The Dodgers were last in the majors with a .214average against lefties during the regular season, and Ruiz, PuigandHernandez combined to go 0 for 8 against Lester.LA Nick Castellanos Jersey did have some chances before Chicago blew things open in the eighth, but went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position vs. Lester.

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3. Joe Blanton blows up again.The starter-turned-reliever was one of the Dodgers'best bullpen pieces all season. The35-year-old right-hander went 7-2 with a2.48 ERA and 28 Matt Harvey Jersey holds. All that has goneout the window this postseason. After giving up a grand slam to Miguel Montero in Game 1 of the NLCS,Blanton served up the go-ahead homer toRu sell and has nowgiven up fiveextra-base hitsin 72/3 postseason inningsafterallowing18such hits in 80 innings during theregularseason.

Highlight

Ru sell joinedAlex Gonzalez as the only Cubs shortstops to hit multiple home runs in the postseason.

What's next

Game 6:Dodgersat Cubs, 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Fox Sports 1 After five Chris Sabo Jersey full days of rest,Clayton Kershaw (12-4, 1.69 ERA) gets the ball for the Dodgers as the club hopes to stave off elimination and improve to 5-0 when Kershaw pitches this postseason.Kyle Hendricks (16-8,2.13 ERA), whosuffered thehard-luck lo s in Game 2 aftersurrendering just one run on three hits, takes the mound for the Cubs.