Stat break: 1961 Braves defeat 2017 Cubs in seven games

Game 1: Cubs 3, Braves 2
WP: Lester (1-0)
LP: Spahn (1-1)
Save: Davis (3)
HR: Rizzo (1)

Game 2: Braves 5, Cubs 3
WP: Burdette (2-0)
LP: Arrieta (0-1)
Save: McMahon (2)
HR: Rizzo (2), Schwarber (4), Maye (1)

Game 3: Cubs 5, Braves 3
WP: Lackey (2-0)
LP: Buhl (1-1)
Save: Davis (4)
HR: Adcock (1)

Game 4: Braves 6, Cubs 3
WP: Willey (1-0)
LP: Quintana (0-1)
Save: Nottebart (1)
HR: Mathews 2 (2), Heyward (1)

Game 5: Braves 5, Cubs 0
WP: Spahn (2-1)
LP: Lester (1-1)
HR: Mathews (3)

Game 6: Cubs 2, Braves 1 (16 innings)
WP: Montgomery (1-0)
LP: Raymond (0-1)
HR: Schwarber (5), Contreras (4)

Game 7: Braves 13, Cubs 3
WP: Buhl (2-1)
LP: Lackey (2-1)
Save: Hendley (1)
HR: Aaron (1), Adcock (2), Thomas (2), Torre (2), Maye (2)

The Cubs won three competitve games, few more competitve than the 16-inning Game Six. The Braves won the easy ones, few more one-sided than Game Seven.

Game One, in Wrigley Field, was a duel between two star southpaws. Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer in the first off Warren Spahn gave the Cubs a lead they would never relinquish. Winner Jon Lester threw six scoreless innings before giving way to a pinch-hitter. The Braves were held to just three hits by four Cubs pitchers.

The Braves evened the series in Game Two. They scored three runs in the second off Jake Arrieta on three singles and two walks, scored again in the fifth on Lee Maye's homer and added a tally in the eighth. Lew Burdette went 7.2 innings for the win, allowing three runs on six hits, two of them homers.

The series shifted to 1961 and County Stadium, and Bob Buhl's wildness cost Milwaukee. He walked eight in 2.1 innings, including four in a row in the Cubs' four run third. The Braves bullpen shut down the Cubs after that, but John Lackey held the Braves to three runs in six innings and the Cubs bullpen also threw goose eggs the rest of the way. Joe Adcock drove in all three Milwaukee runs with a homer and a double.

Eddie Mathews homered twice in Game Four to back up Carl Willey's six innings of five-hit ball. Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer for Chicago in the second inning, but the Cubs couldn't score after that. Mathews drove in four runs, and Hank Aaron had three singles, scored twice and drove in a run. Don Nottebart got Javy Baez to ground out with the bases loaded in the ninth for a one-out save.

Spahn gave Milwaukee its first lead of the series with a four-hit shutout in Game Five. He walked three and struck out four, and had two hits himself, a double and an RBI single. Frank Bolling tripled and doubled for the Braves, scoring twice.

Game Six, back in Chicago, was a classic. Arrieta held the Braves hitless until the fifth inning and scoreless until the seventh, when McMillian singled with one out and Lew Burdette walked. Justin Wilson relieved and retired pinch-hitter Gino Cimoli, but Aaron singled in McMillian for the lead. Burdette carried that 1-0 lead into the ninth, when Kyle Schwarber led off with a homer. Burdette left for a pinch-hitter after that inning, and Nottebart threw five scoreless innings, allwoing seven baserunners but getting two double play grounders. The Cubs ran through seven relievers, with Mike Montgomery working the final three innings. Claude Raymond worked a scoreless bottom of the 15th for the Braves, but Willson Contreras led off the 16th with a homer.

Game Seven was an anti-climax after that drama. Lee Maye led off the game with homer off Lackey,
and a rare error by Anthony Rizzo with two outs and the bases loaded in the third not only allowed a second Braves run to score but set up a grand slam by the next hitter, Frank Thomas. Milwaukee got homers from Aaron, Adcock and Joe Torre as the game progressed, and Buhl held the Cubs scoreless until the sixth, when his own error set up Heyward's bases-loaded triple. Bob Hendley relieved Buhl to start the seventh and worked three innings to get credit for the save.

Player of the series: Joe Adcock

Pitching limitations: Nottebart should not pitch the first two games of Round Three, and Hendley should not pitch in Game One. Willey is available for bullpen duties in Game 1.

Projected rotation: Spahn-Burdette (w/ penalty)-Willey or Buhl-Buhl or Willey-(Spahn)-(Burdette)-(Game 3 starter)