Goat of confidence! Cubs like WS chances

CHICAGO — Next year? Did somebody say next year?

That’s so 2015 for the Cubs.

Next year is now.

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Manager Joe Maddon and his players have known that since February, when they reported to Spring Training. They served notice on the rest of the National League with a 103-win season and made it official on a picture-perfect Saturday night at Wrigley Field, riding Kyle Hendricks’ blank-stare focus and precision pitching to a relatively angst-free, 5-0, pennant-clinching victory over the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

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There were no black cats in the on-deck circle or headphones-wearing fans reaching out for foul balls. No goats were admitted to the ballpark, and if any were turned away, no one cared.

Game Date Matchup Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 15 CHC 8, LAD 4 Gm 2 Oct. 16 LAD 1, CHC 0 Gm 3 Oct. 18 LAD 6, CHC 0 Gm 4 Oct. 19 CHC 10, LAD 2 Gm 5 Oct. 20 CHC 8, LAD 4 Gm 6 Oct. 22 CHC 5, LAD 0 • NLCS coverageShop for postseason gear: Cubs | Dodgers

And because they beat the Dodgers — outscoring them, 23-4, over the final 24 innings to dig themselves out of a hole — the Cubs are off to the World Series for the first time since 1945.

“They lifted that gigantic gorilla off a lot of our backs,” said Bob Dernier, who played center field for the Cubs in 1984, when they lost the NLCS to the Padres despite leading, 2-0. “They did it with style. That’s the way you do it.”

Dexter Fowler’s leadoff double and Kris Bryant’s single gave the Cubs the lead after Clayton Kershaw’s first seven pitches. Kershaw would allow runs in four of the five innings he pitched, the last two on solo homers by rookie catcher Willson Contreras and cornerstone first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Hendricks and closer Aroldis Chapman not only made sure there was no repeat of the late-game meltdown in the infamous Game 6 against the Marlins in 2003, they avoided the drama of the ’45 clincher. In that game, the Pirates had the tying run on third and the winning run on second when Paul Ericsson got pinch-hitter Tommy O’Brien to take a called third strike, giving the Cubs a three-game lead over the Cardinals with two games left in the season.

Hendricks and the hitters who attacked Kershaw from the first inning through the fifth kept the 42,386 at …

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