The realization pounded through Chavez Ravine in rhythm with a stadium that was shaking to its ancient core. The awareness emerged through Yasmani Grandal’s fist pump, Rich Hill’s leg whip,

Justin Turner’s shaggy smile. The belief resounded throughout the Southland sports landscape with a thumping that could be felt all the way to Chicago, and could you hear it? The Dodgers can

do this. They can really do this. The feeling was as umistakeable as the first strains of “I Love L.A” that filled Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night when the Dodgers finally put down their

gloves after thrashing the Chicago Cubs, 6-0, to take a two-games-to-one lead in the National League Championship series. “We’ve got a little momentum going,” said Andrew Toles, one of their

since the last time they were in the World Series 28 years ago. This is the first time the Dodgers have led in a league championship series since Game 5 against the New York Mets in 1988. In

their ensuing three visits to the NLCS, they only won as many as two games once. And, oh yeah, combined with Sunday’s 1-0 win in Game 2, the Dodgers have pitched consecutive postseason

shutouts for the first time in the history of a franchise that once employed teammates Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. “We like our chances,” said Justin Turner, and he’s not alone. After the

game, dressed in his sport coat and tennis shoes, Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter jumped on the field and joined the Dodgers’ traditional high-five parade with some of the wildest hand slaps

in boardroom history. The celebration ended when Walter jumped into Kenley Jansen’s arms as if the owner was a catcher. Later, typical of this Dodger culture, Walter retired to the clubhouse

to congratulate a guy whose Tuesday performance might have otherwise gone unnoticed — reliever Joe Blanton, who calmly rebounded to throw a perfect inning in making his first appearance

since his Game 1 grand-slam gopher ball to the Cubs’ Miguel Montero. 1/25 Dodgers’ Justin Turner hits a solo home run against Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta in the sixth inning in Game 3 of the

NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 2/25 Dodgers from left, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez and Yasiel Puig celebrate after defeating the Cubs 6-0 in Game 3 of the

NLCS at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 3/25 Cubs players watch as the Dodgers shut them out 6-0 in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.  (Robert Gauthier / Los

Angeles Times) 4/25 Tommy Lasorda waves to fans during the seventh inning stretch during Game 3 of the NCLS at Dodger Stadium.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 5/25 Yasiel Puig runs

to first as Cubs pitcher Travis Wood recovers a deflected ball too late in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 6/25 Cubs’ Kris

Bryant strikes out as Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal celebrates in the eighth inning in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 7/25 Cubs pitcher Jake

Arrieta is pulled out of the game against the Dodgers in the sixth inning in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 8/25 Corey Seager of the Dodgers hits a run-scoring

single against Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta in the third inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 9/25 Dodgers from left, Rich Hill, Yasmandi Grandal

and Justin Turner meet at the mound during the sixth inning against the Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 10/25 Dodgers Adrain Gonzalez steps on the first

base bag to beat Cubs’ Chris Coghlan for the out as pitcher Joe Blanton tries to stay out of the way in the seventh inning in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 11/25

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner hits a solo home run against Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta in the sixth inning in Game 3 of the NLCS.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 12/25 Justin Turner

is greeted by teammate Joc Pederson after hittig a sixth-inning homer in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 13/25 Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill exhults

after striking out Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo to end the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 14/25 Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal

celebrates hit two-run home run as Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta walks back to the mound in the fourth inning in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 15/25 Dodgers catcher

Yasmani Grandal is cheered by coach George Lombard after hitting a two-run hom run against Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Robert

Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 16/25 Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager slides safely into second ahead of the tag of Cubs second baseman Javier Baez after bringing home teammate Andrew Toles for

a third-inning run in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 17/25 Dodgers’ Andrew Toles scores a run as Cubs catcher Miguel Montero catches a late throw on a single by

Corey Seager in the third inning in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 18/25 Dodgers manager Dave Roberts congratulates Andrew Toles who scored on a third-inning Corey

Seager single in Game 3 of the NLCS.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 19/25 Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler, left, makes a cach as he collides with right fielder Jorge Solar on a

fly ball by Dodgers batter Josh Reddick in the second inning in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 20/25 Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill pitches against the

Cubs in the first inning in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 21/25 Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill jumps in the air during his follow through

while pitching a scoreless second inning against the Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 22/25 Umpires gather at home plate before a game between the Dodgers

and Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 23/25 Dodgers Joc Pederson seems to test the padding before a game with the Cubs in Game 3 of

the NLCS at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 24/25 Magic Johnson and Tommy Lasorda enjoy a game between the Dodgers and Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger

Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 25/25 Chicago Cubs pitcher John Lackey, center, laughs during introductions in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.   (Wally

Skalij / Los Angeles Times) “That kind of player is what we’re all about,” said Walter. The victory was filled with players who epitomize the Dodgers, beginning with starter Hill, who most

had picked as the probable loser in the battle with defending Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta. Several hours before the game, while riding an elevator crowded with stadium workers down to

the Dodgers’ clubhouse, Hill was barely recognized, few even looked at him. Much later, he was cheered by thousands as he skipped off the mound with every big pitch, and there were plenty,

as he allowed just two singles in six innings. The 36-year-old who had been fighting with blisters and bad pitches — he had a 6.43 ERA in his previous two postseason games — showed up huge

from the moment he struck out Addison Russell and retired Montero on a grounder with runners on second and third in the second. Hill battled. The Cubs did not. Hill was tough. The Cubs were

not, appearing to surrender on several plate appearances, revealing little discipline, absent focus, and lots of hanging heads. Just asking, but how did that team win 103 games during the

regular season? Were they really historically one of the best regular-season teams in baseball history? Could somebody re-check those numbers, because right now, the Cubs’ only historical

marker is a resemblance to the last several years of the San Diego Padres. Forget them trying to overcome 108 years of failure, the Cubs can’t even seem to handle a couple of innings of

failure. With each bad swing, they seemed to retreat into themselves a little further until, after fumbling a run-scoring grounder in the eighth inning, infielder Javier Baez appeared to

almost forget to throw the ball to first base before finally flinging it in frustration. “Not necessarily shell-shocked,” claimed Cubs Manager Joe Maddon, who must have been shell-shocked

when he said that because, no, his team is absolutely shell-shocked. The Dodgers, meanwhile, followed the lead of Hill with another big comeback move, Grandal’s two-run homer in the fourth

inning on a seven-pitch plate appearance during which he was initially down 0 and 2. It was his first hit since the first game of the postseason, and it set the tone for the kind of smart,

resilient baseball that Dodgers fans have seen for the last couple of weeks. “We feed off of each other, that’s what we’re about,” said Adrian Gonzalez. “It’s what Doc [Manager Dave Roberts]

preaches in spring training. Don’t give up, don’t give in, keep going, keep grinding, keep fighting, give the other team the best battle we can give them, and eventually we can wear them

down.” It figures that the club’s unofficial theme song is, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by the iconic Rick Astley. That song was blaring in their clubhouse immediately after Tuesday’s game.

For the first time this year, the Dodgers also celebrated by spinning a tiny disco ball and mixing in a bit of boogie haze from a small smoke machine. “It’s all positive thinking and good

momentum,” said Blanton. Positively, they need but two more wins in four remaining games. Precisely, they need only one more win before giving the ball to Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers can do

this. They can really do this. [email protected] GET MORE OF BILL PLASCHKE’S WORK AND FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @BILLPLASCHKE MORE SPORTS NEWS DYLAN HERNANDEZ: ARE CUBS CHOKING? SURE

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