CHICAGO, IL—The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Game 1 of the National League championship series against the Chicago Cubs 8-4, on Saturday, October 15.

After successfully mounting a comeback in their previous series against the Washington Nationals, the Dodgers rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the eighth inning to tie the game. The Chicago Cubs managed to pull away from the Dodgers after Miguel Montero hit just the third pinch-hit grand slam in MLB postseason history. Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler also struck a home run in the eighth inning, giving Chicago an 8-3 lead.

Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton, responsible for pitching in the fateful eighth inning, sounded resilient after the loss. “That’s the life of being a reliever, you have to be ready for tomorrow. This game doesn’t matter, it’s over. Our team did a great job of fighting the whole game, especially there at the end. Hopefully we can take that into tomorrow, pull one off and take a split. We have Kersh [Kershaw] going tomorrow, so I think everybody should feel pretty good about that,” said Blanton.

Dodgers’ Andre Ethier hit a homer in the fifth inning before Adrian Gonzalez’s single brought Andrew Toles and Chase Utley home for two runs in the eighth. Toles hit a double in the ninth inning to bring Joc Peterson in for the Dodger’s final score.

Game 2 will be held Sunday, October 16 at Wrigley Field.