Dodgers 26-year-old left-fielder Hernandez, who has helped hurricane relief efforts in his native Puerto Rico, smacked a solo blast in the second inning, a four-run round-tripper in the third and a two-run shot in the ninth to provide all the scoring Los Angeles would need.
The Dodgers dethroned Major League Baseball's defending champions by capturing the best-of-seven National League Championship Series 4-1 and will play for their first World Series crown in 29 years starting Tuesday in Los Angeles.
"It feels good to hear World Series," said Dodgers winning pitcher Clayton Kershaw. "It has been a long time coming for this team. I never thought I would play in a World Series. It's tough to sink in right now."
They will face the American League winner, either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros, in the best-of-seven final. The Yankees lead that series 3-2 entering game six Friday in Houston. No home team has yet lost.
Hernandez set a one-game league championship series record by driving in seven runs and matched another with three homers.
"Kike' (Hernandez), he told me he had my back today," Kershaw said. "He came through. It's a different guy every night. I'm having a lot of fun with them. It's unbelievable. It's a very special team to be a part of."
The Cubs had won five consecutive playoff games when facing elimination, three in last year's World Series and two in this year's playoffs, but again struggled to solve Dodgers pitching, having managed only one playoff hit with runners in scoring position.
Dodgers relief pitchers will enter the World Series having hurled 23 consecutive scoreless playoff innings.
Dodgers ace left-hander Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner as best pitcher, allowed only one run on three hits with five strikeouts over six innings for his sixth playoff win, tying a Dodgers' career record, while Cubs lefty Jose Quintana struggled before exiting in the third inning.
Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first inning when Chris Taylor walked and scored on Cody Bellinger's double to right field.
Hernandez swatted his first homer of the playoffs on the opening pitch of the second inning to give the Dodgers a 2-0 edge.
Taylor opened the crucial third inning with a ground rule double, bouncing a ball into the stands down the left-field line, and scored on Justin Turner's single to right field, boosting the Dodgers' lead to 3-0.
Bellinger and Yasiel Puig followed with singles to load the bases, prompting the Cubs to replace Quintana with right-handed reliever Hector Rondon.
- Hernandez hammers the Cubs -
Hernandez returned to the plate with one out and hammered the first Dodgers' playoff grand slam since 2008 over the Wrigley Field center-field wall, lifting the Dodgers ahead 7-0 and stunning Chicago supporters into silence.
The Cubs had only managed seven runs in the entire series to that point. The Dodgers struck for five runs on six hits in the inning.
Los Angeles added two more runs in the fourth inning as Taylor and Bellinger each singled and advanced on a wild pitch by reliever John Lackey. Taylor was thrown out at home on a ground ball by Puig but Logan Forsythe followed with a two-run double to left field, the onslaught reaching 9-0.
Chicago's Kris Bryant smacked a solo homer in the fourth to finally put the Cubs on the scoreboard.
But Hernandez smacked his third homer in the ninth, a fitting exclamation point on the Dodgers' rout.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
