LOS ANGELES — The Cubs burst from the starting gate this season and never looked back, embarking on a bruising conquest that featured 103 wins. They outscored opponents by a stunning 259 runs and led the standings for all but one day.

But none of that matters now, because if the Cubs hope to end their championship drought, they must show that they can absorb a shot to the chin. It was delivered by the Dodgers on Tuesday night, in a 6-0 victory to seize a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

For the first time in the playoffs, the Cubs must play from behind to advance, turning up the pressure on a group that has been sheltered from it all year long.

Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner each homered. Corey Seager had three hits, including a single to give the Dodgers the lead. Closer Kenley Jansen recorded the final five outs.

Dodgers lefty Rich Hill, whose career revival began with a short stint with the Long Island Ducks, tossed six innings against a lineup that has been forced to relive a nightmare.

A season ago, the Cubs hit just .162 in a four-game NLCS sweep by the Mets and their dominant pitching staff. With that memory in mind, Joe Maddon reshuffled his lineup before Game 3. He had good reason. The Cubs entered play hitting .193/.251/.361 in the postseason. Their .613 OPS was lowest of the teams still standing.

But none of Maddon’s maneuvers worked. For the second straight game, the Cubs were shut out. Anthony Rizzo, dropped one spot down into the cleanup spot, went 1-for-3 with a walk. He is 2-for-26 in seven postseason games. Ben Zobrist, moved up to the third spot, was 0-for-4. He is 4-for-26 in the playoffs.

Addison Russell, moved to the seventh spot, went 0-for-2 before he was pinch hit for in the seventh. Russell is 1-for-24 in October. Jorge Soler went 0-for-1 with a walk. He had been inserted for his bat despite his reputation for shaky defense in right, which he displayed by missing the cutoff man and colliding with Dexter Fowler, failing to hear the center fielder calling him off for a catch.

Hill, 36, did not make it out of the third inning in his last start in Game 5 of the Division Series. After facing only 13 batters, he gave way to the bullpen, which squeezed 21/3 innings out of Jansen before Clayton Kershaw closed it out.

Against the Cubs, Hill enjoyed no such safety net, yet he threatened another night of heavy lifting for the Dodgers. He needed 30 pitches to escape from a sloppy second inning, in which he and catcher Grandal appeared out of sorts.

Hill walked the struggling Rizzo, then caught a break when Javier Baez popped up after getting ahead in the count 3-and-1. Soler drew another walk, drawing the second mound visit of the inning from Grandal, who has accused the Cubs of stealing signs.

Despite the conference, Grandal couldn’t squeeze a high fastball, giving the Cubs runners on second and third. For a slumping offense, Hill’s struggles appeared to be well timed. Even though he squashed the threat by striking out Russell and getting a groundout by Miguel Montero, Hill retreated to the dugout and slammed his glove on the bench.

But after Hill needed another 25 pitches to navigate the third inning, the Cubs would pay for not punishing a pitcher on the ropes. Hill found a rhythm.

His array of curveballs, delivered from a variety of arm angles, suddenly began catching corners. They made Hill’s other offerings seem more lively. The Cubs found themselves helpless against a man who had been one of them in a past life.

Meanwhile, Cubs righty Jake Arrieta couldn’t keep the ball in the park. With the Dodgers already up 1-0 in the fourth, Grandal blasted his two-run shot into a stairwell just beyond the right-centerfield fence. It came after he took a 2-and-2 pitch on the inside corner. It was a two-seamer, almost the same pitch he took for strike three earlier in the game.

Still, Grandal took it, prompting a shake of the head from Maddon. Two pitches later, he got one he could handle.

Arrieta’s last start here was a no-hitter in 2015. On Tuesday night, he allowed four runs and six hits in five-plus innings, nowhere near good enough to cover up a Cubs offense that has stalled.