CHICAGO — Optimism in October is a wonderful thing.
And after a unique game at Wrigley Field on Wednesday evening — all of the runs in the contest were scored via solo home runs — the Cubs and the Dodgers returned to their clubhouses armed with abundant amounts of it.
The Cubs won Game 4 of the NLCS 3-2 behind two home runs by Javier Baez, who had been 0 for 20 in the playoffs entering this contest, and a strong effort from starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, a free-agent-to-be who might have made his last start for the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
GAME CENTER: Dodgers-Cubs box score, stats
They still trail the best-of-seven series three games to one, but if they hadn’t won Wednesday, their season would have been finished. So, yeah, they’ll take being down 3-1.
“We’re in it for each other. We know what we’ve got in the clubhouse,” Kyle Schwarber said. “We know what kind of talent we have. We know what we can do physically out on the field. I feel like we just come together really well.”
The offensive talent the Cubs have has struggled in this series, which is why it’s so important for this team to see Baez come through the way he did in Game 4.
“His entire game is spectacular,” manager Joe Maddon said. “When young guys like that really struggle, you've got to stay with him. It was a really good matchup for him [Wednesday]. He took advantage of it, give him a lot of credit.”
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Both of Baez’s homers came off LA starter Alex Wood.
“That guy’s a baseball player. That’s the best word to describe him,” Schwarber said. “You guys can label him as flashy. You guys can label him as whatever. But that guy, to me, he’s a baseball player. He cares. He’s out there and he makes the stellar plays. He makes the routine plays. He finds a way to come up with big hits. I love having that guy on the field.”
With Wednesday’s victory, the Cubs have now won five consecutive elimination games. They trailed 3-1 in last year’s World Series and came back to win that Fall Classic, and they beat the Nationals in a winner-take-all NLDS Game 5 last week.
They’re obviously OK with pressure.
“I love the word. I want there to be pressure,” Maddon said. “I want there to be a carrot at the end of the stick. I want all of that. I talk about never putting the pressure to exceed the pleasure, just meaning to handle the moment.”
MORE: Three takeaways from Chicago's Game 4 win
And the Dodgers, of course, are still enjoying the moment. A commanding 3-1 leads in a best-of-seven series tends to foster a genuine sense of optimism in a clubhouse.
“We’re going to be all right,” Cody Bellinger, who homered in Game 4, said after the loss. “We’ve got the right guy going [Thursday].”
Mr. Right is Clayton Kershaw, the lefty who has been the best starting pitcher in baseball over the past decade. His career ERA in the regular season is 2.36. How good is that? Consider: His 2.31 ERA led the NL this season, even though it was his “worst” ERA since 2012.
Yes, he's very good.
He has had his postseason issues, no doubt. He has made three starts against the Cubs in the playoffs the past two years. In last year’s NLCS, he threw seven shutout innings in Game 2, then was knocked out in the fifth inning of Game 6 (both starts were at Wrigley). He gave up two runs in five innings in Game 1 of this series and could have gone at least another inning, but manager Dave Roberts pinch-hit for him in the fifth with a runner on second and two outs in a tie game.
MORE: Roberts very familiar with miracle comebacks
He’s looking to last a little longer this time.
“It's a good feeling when we wake up [Thursday],” Roberts said, “we know Clayton's taking the mound.”
First pitch is set for 8:08 pm ET.
