Cubs Vs. Dodgers: When And How To Watch Game 3, 2017 NL Championship Series

It's October, and the Chicago Cubs get to do something they haven't done in more than a century: defend a World Series title. After a tight series against the Washington Nationals, the North Siders now challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series for the second consecutive year. The best-of-seven series began Saturday, Oct. 14.

Can the Cubs make it back to the World Series this season? Will the 2017 postseason join last year as part of a Chicago dynasty of multiple championships? Patch gets you ready for each playoff game with all the info you need to know before you enjoy the action on the field.

Also, check out the tentative postseason schedule for the Cubs if they advance to future rounds. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Lake View and Chicago — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

2017 NL Championship Series

Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series, 2-0

GAME 3

First Pitch: 8:08 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17

Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago

TV | Radio | Streaming: TBS | 670 The Score (WSCR-AM), ESPN Radio 1000 (WMVP-AM) | MLB.com

Pitching Matchup: Kyle Hendricks (1-0; 3.27 ERA, 11.0 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 13 K) vs. Yu Darvish (1-0; 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)

Previous NLCS Game Results

GAME 1

Cubs 2, Dodgers 5

W: Kenta Maeda (1-0; 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB) | L: Hector Rendon (0-1; 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB) | S: Kenley Jansen (1; 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB)

GAME 2

Cubs 1, Dodgers 2

W: Kenley Jansen (1-0; 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) | L: Brian Duensing (0-1; 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

Cubs Lineup Changes in Game 3?

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he's considering adjustments to his lineup in Game 3 in an effort to give Chicago a boost in the NLCS. But fans shouldn't expect any radical changes.

"I mean, I'm looking at maybe one or two little nuance kind of things," Maddon said Monday. "But in general, this is who we are, like I said before. I have a ton of faith and trust in our guys, but if there's something we could do maybe to tweak it a little bit, we may try to do that. I haven't decided completely yet."

And what will go into that decision-making process?

"Honestly, I'm going through discussions with different guys, just looking at some information kind of stuff," he said. "What I like to do is the night before the game, which will be tonight, obviously, I like to text out the lineups so the guys know in advance of tomorrow what's going to happen, and I'll do that later."

Easygoing Return Home

Despite the Cubs' heartbreaking walk-off loss to the Dodgers in Game 2, players kept things loose on the trip home, said Game 3 starter Kyle Hendricks on Monday.

"There were a few sleepers, but it was a normal ride for us," he said. "The music playing and same old stuff with everybody. Guys up in the back doing their thing. I got about an hour or two of sleep. We got in pretty late. But no, it's business as usual. After any game, we've been through a lot of ups and downs, so it's really nothing; not uncharted territory for us."

Hard-Traveling Heroes

It's a good thing the Cubs' flight back to Chicago after Game 2 was uneventful given how stressful the cross-country trek to Los Angeles was for the team following the Game 5 victory in Washington, D.C. The Cubs were delayed for around five hours after the plane landed in New Mexico because the wife of starting pitcher Jose Quintana took ill.

"Honestly, the guys went through a lot in Washington," Maddon said. "We sat on the tarmac. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses, but it was a tough couple days to go out to L.A. under those circumstances. I talked about it in my original comments out there that I'm looking forward to the day offs so the boys could get back here and regroup."

More Patch Cubs Coverage:

• VIDEO: Check Out The Scene Outside Wrigley Field Before Game 3 of the NLDS
• Mayors Put Meat, Beer On The Line For NL Division Series
• Cubs Say Auctioned World Series Ring Could Be Counterfeit
• Schaumburg Man Sues Cubs, MLB After Taking Ball To Head At Wrigley

Although the way the team traveled to L.A. was a bit unusual, Hendricks didn't think the players were too affected by it.

"At the end of the day though, we do this all yearlong," he said. "We're traveling from here to there. We get in late a lot of places, have to play the next day. So it was nothing new for us. We have a tough group of guys. Being through the travel last year in the playoffs, it's very similar.

"So, you know, it doesn't feel that out of whack, I guess. And we're prepared. We were ready for those games. We had the lead in both of them, you know, we just couldn't come through in the end. That was it."

Even though the Cubs weren't able to steal a win in Dodger Stadium, Maddon thinks the team can get back on track at Wrigley Field.

"I obviously wanted to win one out of those two," he said. "We didn't. That's reality. There is reality and there is fantasy. People like to tend to deal with fantasy. It's reality. So we've got to come back here and get ourselves back together."

Not a Twitter Fan, Joe?

Maddon on all of the online criticism he received following the Game 2 loss for tapping John Lackey out of the bullpen instead of closer Wade Davis: "[F]irst of all, social media, the moment I start worrying about that, I really need to retire. …

"Listen, [Davis] just did yeoman kind of work — I love that word — in Washington, and was not prepared to go more than three outs. I don't understand why that's difficult to understand. And furthermore, you have to also understand it wasn't the last game of the year or the second to the last game of the year. It was about winning eight more games. All these things are factors. So I really hope that you all understand that social media doesn't count at all. Twitter doesn't count at all. And really, as sportswriters, you should do a better job than relying on Twitter to write a story, quite frankly."

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana (left) and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. (Quintana photo by Mark J. Terrill | Associated Press; Puig photo by Matt Slocum | Associated Press)

Like What You're Reading? Stay Patched In!

• Like our Crime page on Facebook
• Check out the Events Calendar for what’s going on