Maddon: Cubs ‘heartbeat’ leads way to NLCS

Perhaps reality should have struck the Cubs in the second inning of Game 5 of the National League Division Series presented by T-Mobile on Thursday. Perhaps they should have withered when Michael A. Taylor hit a three-run homer to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead. Perhaps they should have looked to the outfield and glimpsed Max Scherzer, the probable NL Cy Young Award winner, lurking in the bullpen. Perhaps they should have seen the Nats — statistically a better team throughout the regular season — and conceded to the forces working against them. But then they would not have been the Cubs.