[1] The Cubs defeated the Washington Nationals in the NLDS three games to two to advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in a rematch of the previous year's series.

[373] Hendricks bunted him to second and, following a flyout by Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant drove in Baez with a single to right to give the Cubs the 1–0 lead.

Carl Edwards Jr. pitched a perfect eighth and Wade Davis slammed the door on the Nationals in the ninth as the Cubs took a 1–0 lead in the series.

Lester gave up a first inning home run to Anthony Rendon, but Willson Contreras quickly answered with a homer in the top of the second to tie the game at one.

Pedro Strop pitched a scoreless seventh in relief and the Cubs looked to be in command as Carl Edwards Jr. took the hill in the eighth.

[378] Edwards then walked Rendon and gave up a single to Daniel Murphy before being replaced by Mike Montgomery to face Ryan Zimmerman.

[380][381] As the series shifted to Wrigley Field, the Nationals sent their ace Max Scherzer to the mound while the Cubs countered with José Quintana.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker brought in Sammy Solis to pitch to Albert Almora Jr. who was pinch hitting for Schwarber.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tommy La Stella pinch hit for Edwards and drew a walk from reliever Brandon Kintzler.

Rizzo, who said after the game that he expected to be walked with first base open and two outs, blooped a single to short left center that fell between three Nationals and scored Martín to give the Cubs the 2–1 lead.

González continued to struggle in the third as Kris Bryant doubled and Willson Contreras and Albert Almora Jr. walked to the load the bases.

The Cubs added to their lead in the sixth as Russell doubled in Ben Zobrist on a fly ball that was misplayed by Jayson Werth.

Leading 8–6 in the seventh, the Cubs added another run when Kyle Schwarber pinch hit and doubled, scoring on a groundout by Kris Bryant.

The Nationals answered in the seventh as the Cubs used Carl Edwards Jr. and José Quintana to get two outs, but a sacrifice fly by Bryce Harper narrowed the lead to 9–7.

[399] In the ninth, Davis set the Nationals down in order, striking out Werth and Harper to end the game and win the series for the Cubs.

Albert Almora Jr. gave the Cubs the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run off Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw.

Quintana left after five innings and Héctor Rondón, who had replaced Justin Wilson on the Championship Series roster, gave up a home run to Chris Taylor in the sixth to give the Dodgers a 3–2 lead.

Addison Russell homered off Rich Hill in the fifth to give the Cubs a 1–0 lead, but the Dodger tied it in the bottom half of the fifth on a Culberson double and a Justin Turner single.

He walked the first batter he faced and then gave up a three-run, game-winning home run to Turner to give the Dodgers the 4–1 win and a 2–0 lead in the series.

Hendricks was lifted in the sixth with two runners on and trailing 3–1, but a walk to Dodger starting pitcher Yu Darvish by Carl Edwards Jr. with the bases loaded moved the score to 4–1.

Albert Almora Jr. and Alex Avila singled and doubled in the ninth to put runners on second and third with no outs, but Dodger closer Kenley Jansen retired the next three batters to end the game.

[414] Looking to stave off elimination, the Cubs sent Jake Arrieta to the mound against Dodger starter Alex Wood who had not yet appeared in the postseason.

Wade Davis entered in the eighth for a two-inning save and promptly gave up a home run to Justin Turner, reducing the lead to 3–2.

Davis was able to induce Bellinger to hit into a game-ending double play to give the Cubs the win and extend the series to Game 5.

He became the fourth Dodger player to hit a postseason grand slam (joining Ron Cey and Dusty Baker from the 1977 NLCS and James Loney in the 2008 NLDS which was also against the Cubs).