Kuzul

LOS ANGELES — It was that moment when you’re creeping along through gridlock and, suddenly, the freeway opens up.

Addison Russell re-introduced himself to this National League Championship Series by walloping a home run, Anthony Rizzo reminded folks he hasn’t gone anywhere by crushing another, and pretty soon all that was left in view were the taillights of the Chicago Cubs. Vrooom!

You could feel the exhale from the Cubs’ dugout to Venice Beach. Cruisin’, on a Wednesday night.

Now, the unusual thing in the Cubs’ emphatic 10-2 Game 3 statement to even this series at two games apiece was this: A key weapon in the Cubs’ sudden resurrection was the bat of a guy who was left off Chicago’s NLCS roster.

Matt Szczur is 27 years old, a right-handed outfielder and pinch hitter who had five homers and 24 RBI for the Cubs this season. He was the club’s fifth-round draft pick in 2010 and is with the club despite not being active for this series.

It was in the fifth inning Wednesday night, after Rizzo had whiffed in each of his first two at-bats, when the slumping first baseman did what he sometimes does during the regular season: His own bats mostly useless as he was 2-for-28 with nine strikeouts this postseason, he grabbed one of Szczur’s.

The two both use Marucci models that are 34 inches long and weigh 32 ounces, though there are subtle differences. One’s barrel is a little thicker. One’s handle is a little thinner.

Usually, Rizzo is polite and asks Szczur’s permission to use one of his bats.

Wednesday night in Dodger Stadium, he just took it.

In the Cubs dugout, Szczur looked over at teammate Tommy La Stella and said, “Watch this; he’s going to go deep right here.”

And, ka-boom! Rizzo crushed a full-count Pedro Baez fastball over the center field fence.

That bat was not the first thing Szczur (pronounced SEE-zur) has joyfully donated, and it wasn’t the most important. In 2009, when he was a two-sport athlete at Villanova (football and baseball), Szczur donated bone marrow to a 15-month-old girl in Ukraine named Anastasia, who was suffering from leukemia. His football coach at Villanova, Andy Talley, has encouraged his players for 25 years to be tested as potential bone-marrow matches. Szczur took it to heart and joined the national registry.

Nearly two years later, Szczur learned the bone-marrow transplant had been successful, and for the first time he connected with the Ukranian family. They spoke again last month, and ESPN ran an update of its original E:60 feature on him earlier in the day Wednesday.

“I’ve [borrowed Szczur’s bats] a few times, especially later in the year,” said Rizzo, who hit home run Nos. 30 and 31 this season with one of Szczur’s bats. “Especially today, the first two at-bats weren’t so hot. Szcz came out today with a nice feature on him about giving his bone marrow, so all things were adding up.”

That Szczur would be a match to donate bone marrow to a person in need was a 1-in-80,000 shot, according to the Chicago Tribune.

That Rizzo would break out of a nightmarish slump when the Cubs’ season is on the line and then turn around and offer a tip of the cap to Szczur’s inspirational decision from a few years ago, speaks to the depth of humanity of this Cubs team.

There are reasons some teams win, and sometimes the reasons run deeper than simple talent levels.

Szczur had no idea his most recent donation had found its way onto the national telecast of Wednesday night’s game, so you can imagine his shock when he entered the clubhouse after the game and one of the trainers asked him about it.

Funny thing is, Rizzo used one of Szczur’s bats in his final Game 3 plate appearance—the one where he shattered it into three pieces. Then he used his own bat for his first two plate appearances in Game 4, both strikeouts.

“I swear I’m not making that up,” Szczur said, laughing, surrounded by a dozen reporters. “I think it’s funny this is all happening now.

“I’m not even on the roster, and I’m getting interviews.”

Szczur uses a KB-17 model Marucci bat, named after someone else who uses the same model: teammate Kris Bryant. Szczur and Bryant played together starting at the Double-A level, which is where they both gravitated toward the same bat.

At the big league level, both Bryant and Rizzo have borrowed Szczur’s bats, which finally caused him to mention something to the Marucci representative: “Hey, the big dogs are using my bats, you need to send me some more.”

All it took was for Szczur to mention the names of the big dogs were Bryant and Rizzo.

“That was the fastest I ever got ’em,” Szczur said. “I got six bats in two days.”

After Wednesday, Szczur said, Rizzo can use those bats anytime he wants.

And the way things are going, maybe Rizzo better consider it.

Everybody knows the Cubs cannot win the World Series if Rizzo and Russell don’t hit. They escaped San Francisco with the two in dreadful slumps. They fell behind the Dodgers two games to one and arrived at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday just short of desperation with the two not hitting.

Going back to the last part of September in the regular season, Russell, after flying out to left field in the second inning Wednesday, was four for his last 56. He was 1-for-25 this postseason.

Rizzo, into his fifth-inning at-bat, didn’t have an extra-base hit in the playoffs.  

Heading into Game 4, the two were a combined 1-for-20 in the NLCS and 3-for-50 in the postseason.

Manager Joe Maddon said it plainly before Game 4: Rizzo and Russell have to hit for the Cubs to get to where they need to go. Period.

In Game 4, the two combined to go 6-for-10 with two homers, five RBI and four runs scored.

For Chicago, it was a relief not only because these two key players busting out keyed a win and suddenly made the Cubs feel a whole lot better about themselves heading toward Kenta Maeda and Game 5, but because this is a close team that feels badly when one of them hits the skids.

“This guy had 90-some RBI during the season and 20-some home runs,” catcher Miguel Montero said of Russell. “The man can hit.

“They don’t sell those at Walgreens.”

Said Maddon: “It should help their confidence; there’s no question about that. When you’re going through the moment they were, it’s a confidence issue. It always is. So going into [Game 5], I know when they show up at the ballpark, there’s going to be a good balance about them. They’re probably going to see the ball a little better, slow things down a little bit.

“Those are the kind of buzzwords you’re always looking for when a guy starts swinging the bat well.”

Whoever is the rightful owner of the bat.

As far as Szczur is concerned, Rizzo can keep on borrowing.

“He doesn’t owe me anything,” said the man on the outside looking in who suddenly was the most popular Cub in the clubhouse. “Tony’s picked me up at dinner quite a few times.

“He’s been grinding. He always gets hits with my bat. It’s what he needed, I guess.”

And what the Cubs needed.

All he wants out of it, Szczur said, is what he already has: Rizzo’s friendship.

Well, maybe that and a couple more victories.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

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The Chicago Cubs won an MLB-best 103 games in 2016 and were apparently tired of hearing about the doom and gloom surrounding their season facing a 2-1 deficit in the National League Championship Series.

They crushed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-2, in Wednesday’s Game 4 at Dodger Stadium to tie the series at two games apiece behind a powerful statement from an offense that finished third in MLB in runs scored this season. It was a drastic change from Games 2 and 3, when the Cubs were held scoreless in two straight losses.

Chicago quickly got to 20-year-old starter Julio Urias, who lasted just 3.2 innings and allowed four earned runs, four hits and two walks. Pedro Baez allowed one earned run from the bullpen, and Ross Stripling gave up the remaining five, four of which were earned.

Addison Russell and Anthony Rizzo each drilled home runs to spearhead the Cubs offense. Rizzo finished with three hits, three RBI and two runs scored, while Russell tallied three hits, two RBI and two runs. Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward, Javier Baez and Dexter Fowler each also added RBI.

Radio personality Jim Rome reacted to the offensive outburst:

Cubs starter John Lackey pitched four-plus innings and allowed two earned runs, three hits and three walks, but the bullpen combination of Mike Montgomery, Carl Edwards Jr., Travis Wood, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon shut the Dodgers down the rest of the way.

Justin Turner tallied both RBI for Los Angeles in the losing effort.

While the bats were the story Wednesday, the Cubs built early momentum in the field. Contreras picked off Corey Seager on second base from his catcher spot to end the Dodgers’ threat in the first, and Heyward threw out Adrian Gonzalez at home plate in the second. 

Gonzalez was trying to score on Andrew Toles’ single. He was called out on the field, but replay review highlighted how close the play was when Heyward hesitated with the throw and Contreras tagged Gonzalez high. 

CBS Sports MLB underscored just how close the Dodgers came to scoring the opening run:

Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper weighed in on the play:

Chicago finally snapped its scoreless streak at 21 innings in the fourth when Ben Zobrist bunted for a hit, advanced to second on Baez’s single and scored on Contreras’ hit. Baez scored on a groundout from Heyward to make it 2-0, and Russell busted the inning open with a two-run homer to center field.

Russell had one hit the entire postseason coming into Wednesday’s game, and Mike Berman of NBC Chicago recognized the relief as the shortstop was rounding the bases:

Rizzo followed Russell’s example and busted out of his own slump in the fifth with a solo blast to center to make it 5-0. The powerful first baseman had just two hits in this postseason before Wednesday’s game, and Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com responded to the overdue long ball:

The Dodgers drove Lackey from the game in the bottom of the fifth when he walked Toles and Andre Ethier. Howie Kendrick loaded the bases with nobody out with a single off Montgomery, and Turner plated two when his ground ball deflected off the Cubs’ southpaw’s glove. However, Montgomery kept the score at 5-2 by inducing groundouts from Gonzalez and Enrique Hernandez.

Chicago’s offense essentially put the game away in the sixth when it pushed across five runs. Rizzo highlighted the rally with a two-RBI single and a run on Baez’s sacrifice fly that plated two after an error.

Mark Schanowski of Comcast SportsNet Chicago noted Rizzo’s breakout game carried weight that extended beyond Wednesday’s game:

Montgomery pitched a scoreless sixth, and Edwards Jr. and Wood combined to keep the Dodgers off the board in the seventh. About the only thing that went wrong for the Cubs was the fact Edwards left the game with left hamstring tightness, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.

Strop made quick work of the Dodgers with a 1-2-3 eighth, and Rondon finished the contest with a scoreless ninth.

What’s Next?

Game 5 is Thursday in Los Angeles.

It will be a critical swing game in the best-of-seven format with the winner a single victory away from the World Series. The series will shift back to Chicago for at least Game 6 after the Cubs’ win, so the Dodgers will need to win Thursday’s contest to avoid a situation where they would have to win two straight at Wrigley Field. 

The Cubs will give the ball to Cy Young candidate Jon Lester, who has been brilliant in the postseason with one earned run allowed in 14 innings. According to MLB.com, the Dodgers will counter with Kenta Maeda, who allowed three earned runs in four innings in his Game 1 start and gave up four earned runs in three innings against the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series.

However, Los Angeles has Clayton Kershaw looming as a potential option if it wants to use him on short rest. If the dominant southpaw doesn’t go in Game 5, the Cubs would be wise to approach it as a must-win, lest they face Kershaw with a 3-2 deficit in Game 6.

Postgame Reaction

Despite losing by eight runs, Gonzalez still wasn’t pleased that his potential run was wiped out after replay review:

“Let’s be honest. After that, we played a sloppy game,” Gonzalez said when discussing the play, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times.

After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would use Maeda and not Kershaw for Thursday’s contest, per Arash Markazi of ESPN: “Tomorrow is not an elimination game or a deciding game.”

On the other side, Russell talked about his performance, per David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune: “I’ve been struggling this postseason a little but didn’t panic. My confidence was still there.”

Rizzo said he used Matt Szczur’s bat for his big hits after struggling early in the game, per Haugh: “The first two at-bats weren’t so hot…I hit well with his bat so he has hits in it.”

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was already looking ahead to the next game, per Markazi: “It would be nice to come out on top tomorrow and go home having to win one of two. We’ve been pretty good at Wrigley.”

If his team hits like it did Wednesday, that won’t be a problem.

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Chicago Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. was removed from Game 4 of the National League Championship Series with hamstring tightness, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.

Continue for updates.

Cubs Lose Key Bullpen Piece

Thursday, Oct. 20

The 25-year-old pitcher came in for the seventh inning but only faced three batters, earning two outs before walking Corey Seager. After the walk, he was replaced by Travis Wood.

Edwards has pitched three innings so far in the postseason, allowing zero runs and only one hit.

In his first real work at the major league level this season, the young pitcher posted a 3.75 ERA in 36 innings. More impressively, he had a 0.81 WHIP to go with 52 strikeouts in this span for a rate of 13 per nine innings.

He had a couple of bad games down the stretch, leading to a 6.00 ERA in August and 5.79 ERA in September, but he has turned things around in the playoffs, becoming one of the most reliable relievers in the Cubs bullpen.

If he is forced to miss time, it creates more question marks for a unit that already featured plenty of doubts.

Aroldis Chapman will still be asked to close out games, but pitchers like Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm and Hector Rondon will likely have to take on bigger roles for the remainder of the series.

While the Cubs have one of the better starting rotations in baseball, they will need the bullpen to step up to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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The 2016 MLB postseason is butter, and Andrew Miller is a hot knife.

Miller got eight crucial outs Wednesday in the Cleveland Indians‘ 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, which sent the Tribe to their first World Series since 1997.

In all, Miller logged 7.2 scoreless innings in the ALCS. He allowed three hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out 14.

Those are stat-sheet-melting numbers. Somehow, though, they don’t do justice to what the lanky left-hander accomplished.

To truly appreciate Miller’s performance, you had to watch him befuddle a potent Blue Jays lineup, locating his fastball with pinpoint precision and eviscerating swings with his wipeout slider. And you had to watch him do the same thing to an even more dangerous Boston Red Sox offense in the division series.

Miller accepted his inevitable ALCS MVP trophy with characteristic humility.

“It’s a great team,” he said in postgame remarks to Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson. “[The] defense. Our catcher Roberto Perez has been unbelievable. It’s so special to be a part of. Top to bottom, everybody did something to help us win.”

Fair enough. But let’s get real: Miller did the most.

No, he’s not the Indians’ closer. That role belongs to Cody Allen, who recorded the final three outs in Game 5 and has played a credible Robin to Miller’s Batman.

Miller is, however, drawing comparisons to the greatest postseason closer of all time, the New York Yankees‘ Mariano Rivera, from the likes of Pedro Martinez. Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer also dove into the Rivera-Miller parallel.

Miller hasn’t matched Rivera’s body of work. But he’s now thrown 20 postseason innings, including appearances with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014 and the Yankees in 2015, without allowing a run.

In these playoffs alone, he’s up to 11.2 innings with 21 strikeouts. That’s only seven shy of the all-time mark for a reliever in the postseason set by Francisco Rodriguez in 2002.

Cleveland limped into the playoffs with injured starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar on the shelf. Outside of ace Corey Kluber, its rotation was a flickering neon question mark.

Indians starters have held their own. In Game 5, rookie Ryan Merritt made the second start of his big league career and threw 4.1 gutsy, shutout frames.

Miller, though, has been the glue. Or the bridge. Pick your metaphor. He’s embodying the old-school fireman—the durable, lights-out reliever capable of stretching over two or more innings. In this era of pitch counts and revolving bullpen specialists, it’s a refreshing throwback.

Credit Indians skipper Terry Francona for trusting Miller and using him in a way that’s unconventional by 2016 standards. Then again, when something keeps working this well, why would you quit doing it?

Here’s a peek into Francona’s thinking on Miller, courtesy of MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince:

This postseason has featured its share of heroes. Edwin Encarnacion clubbed some big homers for Toronto. Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez has dazzled with his glove and bat. Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has shed his October stigma and delivered for L.A.

Miller, though, is easily the most pivotal game-changer on any playoff roster. If he can keep this rolling and get the Indians their first Commissioner’s Trophy since the Harry S. Truman administration, he’ll also go down as arguably the greatest trade-deadline acquisition ever.

After clinching Wednesday at the Rogers Centre, the Tribe get to fly home and enjoy five off days before opening the Fall Classic on Oct. 25 at Progressive Field.

That’s good news for the entire team but especially for Miller, who should be fully recharged to take on either the Dodgers or Cubs.

If you want to gaze ahead with caution, you could note that current Dodgers batters have hit a collective .318 off Miller, and Cubs hitters own a .292 average against him, per ESPN.com. The sample sizes are small, and the context is questionable, but that’s fodder for speculation, at least.

For now, Indians fans can exhale, sit back and take a moment to savor what just happened. Their slider-slinging southpaw is redefining dominance on a nightly basis. He’s making a run at history. Mostly, he’s just damn fun to watch.

Knife, meet butter. October, meet Andrew Miller.

All statistics current as of Wednesday and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Earlier this year, fans in Cleveland watched the Cavaliers carry out a historic comeback from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. The Indians had no interest in being on the opposite side of a similar comeback.

Ryan Merritt and the Indians bullpen combined for a six-hit shutout, and Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp homered as Cleveland earned a 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday to take the American League Championship Series, 4-1.

This is what Periscope was invented for:

The Indians will make their first World Series appearance since 1997, their sixth overall. It’s the third straight year, and the fourth in the last five, that the AL winner has come from the Central division. The Minnesota Twins are the only AL Central team to not win a pennant since the turn of the century.

Cleveland’s win Wednesday was a microcosm of its success across the series. Its pitching staff mowed through a potent Toronto lineup with surprising ease—the Blue Jays scored more than two runs only once in the series.

While the Indians boasted a solid rotation during the regular season, their postseason run has been a staff-wide hot streak. In Game 5, it carried over to Merritt, perhaps the unlikeliest of Cleveland’s heroes.

With one start and 11 innings on his MLB resume—all scattered about in random appearances when Cleveland needed help because of injuries—the 24-year-old hadn’t touched a ball in live action since Sept. 30. His Game 5 start came about thanks to Trevor Bauer’s freak accident with a drone.

No matter.

Merritt looked like nothing short of a seasoned veteran, scattering two hits while striking out three in 4.1 innings of work. He didn’t allow a hit his first time through the order and seemed to fool Toronto’s batters with a deceptive delivery—the speed of his fastball, which barely topped out at 90 mph, wasn’t doing it.

Manager Terry Francona pulled him midway through the fifth after only 49 pitches, though it looked like Merritt could have gone through the order again.

His performance drew deserved praise across the Twittersphere:

With that said, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan pointed out:

It helped that the Indians were able to create separation early. A first-inning Ezequiel Carrera error on a Mike Napoli double allowed Francisco Lindor to score from first with two outs. Jose Ramirez grounded out on the next at-bat, so that run would not have scored otherwise.

The Indians began tacking runs on with the long ball in the third, with Santana nailing a booming shot to right field.

Cue all of the “Smooth” jokes:

Santana has only five hits in 29 at-bats this postseason, but two of them were critical solo shots in the ALCS. He went 1-for-4 on the day.

Crisp hit his second home run in 14 playoff at-bats in the fourth inning. He went 1-for-2 before being pulled for Rajai Davis.

From there, the scoring ceased. Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada settled in and was sensational outside those two mistakes. Estrada gave up only five hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter in his six innings of work. It was his third straight quality start of the postseason but his second loss in the ALCS. The Jays did not offer him a single run of support against Cleveland.

Toronto’s relievers gave up one hit over the final three innings in another solid effort. Lindor, who went 3-for-4, was the only Cleveland player with more than one hit.

Bryan Shaw, who earned the win; Andrew Miller; and Cody Allen closed the game for the Indians. Miller, the best setup man in baseball, again went multiple innings. He allowed one hit over 2.2 innings of work.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball was fawning over Miller, who has not allowed a run over 11.2 postseason innings:

The reliever, who came to Cleveland in a midseason trade with the New York Yankees, was named the ALCS MVP for his four games of flawless work.

Cleveland will now be tasked with bringing home its first World Series championship since 1948 and the city’s second major championship in four months. The Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers await—each boasting a higher payroll, a larger talent pool and extreme pressure from management to get the job done.

No matter who it is, the Indians will likely be underdogs—underdogs with a whole lot of fight left.

Postgame Reaction

Francona spoke about his pride in his team, per Mike Axisa of CBS Sports: “I’m honored that we’re going to the World Series because to do it with—we always said if we could do it with this group, it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a postseason setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good.”

Pitching coach Mickey Callaway thinks the Indians have a complete team: “We’ve got a total team. You don’t come across teams like this often. Everybody chips in, everybody does their part. We’re a balanced lineup. We steal bases—guys got to worry about that. Our pitching is terrific. But these guys work so hard, whether it’s on the mental side of the game, the way they eat, the way they prepare, it’s unbelievable.”

Miller was in an understandably giddy mood: “It’s been special. It’s been a lot of fun. And it’s just—I feel like I’ve said the word ‘special’ a million times in the last 20-30 minutes, but it’s the truth—it’s a blast to be a part of. We have one more big step, but we’re going to the World Series, and that’s what you dream of.”

Merritt said he was a little nervous, per John Telich of Fox 8: “Going into today, I told myself to have fun, enjoy the moment, don’t try to do too much, be yourself, trust in your team, trust in yourself and just go out there and compete. There was a lot of emotion, lot of nerves. Tough to sleep at night.”

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.

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Game 4 of the National League Championship Series between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers is underway from Dodger Stadium!

Keep it here for all the latest updates, analysis, reaction, pictures, videos and whatever else comes our way, and let us know your thoughts on the action in the comments section below and on Twitter (@RickWeinerBR).

Final Score

Cubs 10, Dodgers 2

WP: Mike Montgomery

LP: Julio Urias

Scoring

Top 4th: Contreras RBI single

Top 4th: Heyward RBI groundout

Top 4th: Russell two-run HR

Top 5th: Rizzo solo HR

Bottom 5th: Turner two-run single

Top 6th: Fowler RBI single

Top 6th: Rizzo two-run single

Top 6th: Baez sac fly

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Attorneys for Edwin Encarnacion filed a motion in a New York court Tuesday to have a lawsuit against the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman dismissed due to a lack of evidence as well as questions regarding the jurisdiction of the case. 

Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star provided details of the filing Wednesday, which is in response to a suit filed by Ashley Lebron, an Encarnacion family friend, who said the MLB player knowingly infected her with genital herpes and chlamydia during a pair of sexual encounters in February.

“The complaint is devoid of a single fact supporting her conclusory allegations that the defendant knew or should have known that he had herpes and/or chlamydia,” the motion filed by Encarnacion’s lawyers stated.

Encarnacion doesn’t deny the pair had sex in February in his native Dominican Republic, where his lawyers argue any legal action would need to take place, but the motion also noted the details “do not even remotely suggest anything other than consensual sex between two sexually active adults.”

The Toronto Star added Lebron is seeking $11.5 million in damages for “past and future medical care as well as mental anguish and emotional and physical suffering.”

TMZ Sports passed along more information about the initial lawsuit in August. Lebron stated in her court filing that Encarnacion told her he was clean and responded to her questions by suggesting “she may have picked up [the STDs] when they went four-wheeling and she swam in the river.”

She also alleged the Blue Jays star later backed off his comments about being clean before ending all contact with her, according to TMZ Sports.

No timeline was provided for when a judge will rule on the request for dismissal in the case.

If the lawsuit is allowed to move forward, Sam Pazzano of the Toronto Sun reported the civil trial could occur by 2018, if not earlier, based on remarks from Lebron’s lawyer, Robert Hiltzik.

Encarnacion and the Blue Jays are currently playing in the American League Championship Series. They trail the Cleveland Indians 3-1 with Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

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The Cleveland Indians are World Series bound.

Behind a gusty performance from rookie starter Ryan Merritt, the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, to win Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. They captured their first AL pennant since 1997.

In a formula which has worked all postseason, Cleveland struck early with home runs from Carlos Santana and Coco Crisp. After allowing two hits over 4.1 innings, Merritt handed the ball to a bullpen which once again locked down Toronto.

Andrew Miller shut the door with 2.2 scoreless innings before Cody Allen retired Toronto’s star sluggers for the save. Yet another improbable victory sends Cleveland to the World Series, where it will hold home-field advantage against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs.

FINAL SCORE: Indians 3 – 0 Blue Jays

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The complexion of both the ALCS and NLCS changed significantly Tuesday, as the Toronto Blue Jays staved off elimination and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs.  

Toronto is still in trouble as it faces a 3-1 deficit, but injury woes have the Cleveland Indians reeling. And while the NLCS could still go either way, pressure is mounting for the Cubbies after many years of playoff failures.

With the World Series quickly approaching, here is a full rundown of the remaining championship series schedule, as well as predictions for which teams will prevail in each series.

LCS Schedule

ALCS Predictions

The Indians had a great opportunity to put the Blue Jays away Tuesday in Game 4 with Corey Kluber on the mound, but Cleveland’s ace was outdueled by Aaron Sanchez, and Toronto’s bats finally came to life in a 5-1 triumph.

Toronto lived to fight another day, and it seemingly has the advantage in Game 5, as it will send Marco Estrada to the mound to take on Indians rookie Ryan Merritt.

The 24-year-old Merritt has just one career MLB start to his credit, but with a career ERA of 3.39 in the minors, he has a solid track record.

Even so, Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista seems unconcerned about the challenges the lefty could present, according to MLB.com’s Alykhan K. Ravjiani:

Toronto also has another factor on its side entering Game 5, as it has proven difficult to oust in the playoffs at Rogers Centre, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Most signs point toward the Jays winning at home and sending the series back to Cleveland, and while that will shift much of the pressure toward the Indians, there is a lot to like about how their rotation is set up.

Kluber figures to be available for a potential Game 7, but they may not need him due to how well Josh Tomlin has performed since the start of September.

Tomlin allowed just three hits and one run in 5.2 innings against the Blue Jays in Game 2, and as pointed out by the Indians’ official Twitter account, he is currently in the midst of a remarkable hot streak:

Neither team has swung the bats particularly well during the series, but Cleveland has been better in terms of coming up with timely hits in big situations.

The biggest key for the Indians will be grabbing a lead in one of the next three games and taking it into the fifth or sixth inning, which would then allow them to put the game in the hands of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Tomlin’s recent form suggests he can help them keep a lead in Game 6, and that should allow them to move on to the World Series for the first time in nearly two decades.

Prediction: Indians in six

NLCS Predictions

The Cubs were the best team in baseball all season long, as their 103-58 record suggests, but after getting locked down by Rich Hill in Game 3 of the NLCS, they suddenly trail the Dodgers, 2-1.

Chicago’s bats have gone stagnant over the past two contests, earning Joe Maddon‘s team a dubious distinction that it would undoubtedly like to shake with a better performance in Game 4:

Game 4 will be a pivotal tilt since it could either push the Cubs to the brink of elimination or swing the momentum firmly back in their favor.

Chicago may have the perfect person on the mound for such a high-pressure situation, as 37-year-old veteran John Lackey will toe the rubber against 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias.

Lackey has 21 career postseason starts under his belt with a record of 8-5 and a 3.22 ERA. He has twice won the World Series, and he even started a World Series Game 7 with the Los Angeles Angels as a rookie in 2002.

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon believes Lackey has what it takes to help the Cubs erase their current series deficit:

Lackey struggled in his NLDS start against the San Francisco Giants, allowing seven hits, two walks and three runs in four innings, but Maddon feels he is prepared to deliver a strong outing in Game 4 of the NLCS.

“I think he’s still building up his arm strength. The last game in San Francisco, the velocity was pretty good. He probably wasn’t as sharp location-wise, but his stuff is absolutely there. I know he’s going to be ready for the moment,” Maddon told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

The Cubs have the advantage in Game 4 and figure to prevail thanks to Lackey’s veteran savvy, but things become more uncertain beyond that.

Los Angeles could deploy Clayton Kershaw in Game 5 or 6, however, the Cubs will have the advantage in the game Kershaw doesn’t pitch since struggling rookie Kenta Maeda figures to take the mound.

The current flow of the series suggests a Game 7 is very possible, and it would likely lead to a rematch of Game 3 between Hill and Jake Arrieta.

Although Arrieta faltered in Game 3, the 2015 Cy Young Award winner will turn it around at Wrigley Field and punch Chicago’s ticket to the World Series.

Prediction: Cubs in seven

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With Jake Arrieta on the mound, the Chicago Cubs seemed to be ready to right the ship. Rich Hill and the Los Angeles Dodgers had other ideas.

Hill threw six innings of shutout ball, and the Dodgers bullpen shut the door in a 6-0 triumph in Tuesday’s Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner each went deep, and Corey Seager had three hits in the contest.

Arrieta lasted just five innings, giving up four runs.

The Dodgers now carry a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 (odds available via Odds Shark), which is no doubt critical for both teams. If the Dodgers win, they’re almost surely headed to the World Series after a handful of years of their high-cost roster coming up short. We learned during this year’s NBA Finals that 3-1 leads aren’t necessary foolproof, but the odds are exponentially in their favor.

Julio Urias, the 20-year-old rookie who burst onto the scene after coming up in May, will get the start for the Dodgers. Urias had an ERA under 2.00 in each of the final two months of the regular season but hasn’t thrown deep into games. He hasn’t lasted longer than 3.2 innings since Sept. 2 and went six innings just three times all season.

The Dodgers handed him the ball for two scoreless innings in their Game 5 National League Division Series win over the Washington Nationals. He needed 30 pitches and walked two but earned his first career postseason win.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had this to say about Urias, per Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today:

He’s been throwing the ball really well. Certain starts, the command might not be where it is. But he just has a way to still get swing and misses. It’s nice for a guy that has four pitches that he can attack hitters in a lot of different ways. … He’s come a long way. We’ll have a good game plan and I expect him to execute it.

Of course, we’re kind of burying the lede here. Urias is not just bucking recent personal trends by making a start here. He’s becoming the youngest pitcher in MLB history to start a playoff game.

Urias will be 107 days younger than Bret Saberhagen was when he threw for the Kansas City Royals in 1984. It’s a start that will harken some memories of Fernando Valenzuela for Dodgers fans. Valenzuela spearheaded Los Angeles’ World Series victory in 1981 as a 20-year-old as part of a historic Cy Young season.

Urias won’t have quite that level of expectations, but it appears he’s ready to handle the pressure.

“You feel the adrenaline even when you’re in the dugout not doing anything, so you can imagine what it’s like in the game,” Urias said, per Ortiz. “It’s something you have to feel, like I felt it in Washington, and I felt like I could handle it. It’s the same thing tomorrow. I have the mindset that I can do it.”

The Cubs are handing the ball to John Lackey, whose career is…on the opposite side of Urias‘. Lackey has more postseason starts (21) than Urias has in his career. When Lackey made his MLB debut in 2002, Urias was hanging out in elementary school and probably just getting a formal handle on the alphabet.

Lackey looked shaky in his first postseason start this year, allowing three runs in four innings against the San Francisco Giants. 

“Sometimes it can be good to be young,” Lackey said, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “You don’t know what you’re getting into. You can just go out there and let your talent take over, and obviously, [Urias] has a lot of that. It’s a new situation for him. Back [in 2002] I was just worried about, you know, not messing it up for the older guys more than anything.”

Lackey, of course, will simply be carrying the continued pressure of this Cubs run. After more than a hundred years of futility and heartbreak, it’s become almost expected that the Cubs rampage through these playoffs and pull out a World Series. The cities of Cleveland and Boston have already made it abundantly clear curses are a falsehood.

But with these Cubs facing their first real back-against-the-wall moment, it’ll be up to Lackey to get the job done against his 20-year-old counterpart.

Game 4 Prediction: Cubs 5, Dodgers 3

Series Prediction: Cubs in 7

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