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The Toronto Blue Jays have their first taste of victory in the American League Championship Series after picking up a 5-1 triumph in Game 4, and that appears to be the beginning of a momentum change in the series.

The Blue Jays got the best of Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, as Josh Donaldson’s third-inning home run gave Toronto the lead for the first time in the series. The Blue Jays were able to build on that lead, and after the Indians cut into the advantage and made it a 2-1 game, Edwin Encarnacion knocked in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning.

By itself, it looks like the Blue Jays still have a huge mountain to climb to get back into the series since they trail 3-1. However, the Indians have a problem with their starting pitching.

Outside of Kluber and Josh Tomlin, manager Terry Francona has few viable options open to him because injuries have caused big problems. In addition to Trevor Bauer and his bleeding pinkie finger, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are both injured.

As a result, the Indians will send untested left-hander Ryan Merritt to the mound Wednesday afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for a 4:08 p.m. ET start. Merritt spent most of the year at Triple-A Columbus and pitched just 11 innings for the Indians.

While he did relatively well in his small sample size by allowing six hits and two earned runs, he simply does not have the kind of experience that is usually associated with a postseason starter.

That makes it difficult for the Indians to take the field with true confidence in Game 5. 

Jose Bautista said the Cleveland starter may have a difficult time believing in his ability to get the Blue Jays out. 

“With our experience in our lineup, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be shaking in his boots more than we are,” Bautista told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca.

In addition to Merritt’s lack of experience, the Indians are not an offensive juggernaut at this point. They have scored nine runs in four games, and they have yet to score a run from the seventh inning on in the postseason.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will send Marco Estrada to the mound with the hope of bringing the series back to Cleveland for the sixth game October 21.

Estrada did not have a sensational year as he finished 9-9 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.119 WHIP. Estrada has pitched 16.1 innings in the postseason, and he picked up a win over the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series and lost the opener to the Indians in the ALCS by a 2-0 margin.

The Blue Jays and Indians know that Estrada is capable of pitching an excellent game. Neither team knows what Merritt is capable of doing.

The oddsmakers have taken notice in the disparity among the Game 5 starting pitchers. The Blue Jays are minus-175 favorites, according to Odds Shark. The Indians are plus-165 underdogs to come away with the win and clinch a World Series berth.

Prediction

The worm has turned in the ALCS, and while it will still take quite a bit for the Blue Jays to come all the way back and join the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win the series, the Blue Jays should find a way to extend the series to six games.

Estrada is a strong pitcher, and the Blue Jays are getting enough hitting from Donaldson and Encarnacion to give them the belief that they will score enough runs to win. If Troy Tulowitzki and the slumping Bautista join the hitting parade, this game could turn into a rout.

Cleveland won a bullpen game in Game 3 when Bauer’s finger started to bleed badly in the first inning, and Francona had to remove him after just two outs. 

Perhaps Merritt can give the Indians three innings or more in this assignment, and the bullpen can take over from there. With Andrew Miller and Cody Allen dominating, they certainly have the relief pitchers to do an excellent job.

However, the Blue Jays are not going to let this opportunity slip away and will earn the Game 5 win.

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Fact: The Cubs were shut out for the second straight game on Tuesday night, losing to the Dodgers 6-0. This is the first time in Cubs history that they have been shut out twice in a single postseason. 

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The MLB postseason has been filled with drama throughout October, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays won the two respective games by a combined total of 11-1, but Los Angeles is in a much more favorable position than the Blue Jays moving forward. The Dodgers lead the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in the National League Championship Series, while the Cleveland Indians still hold a 3-1 advantage in the American League Championship Series.

With that in mind, here is a look at an updated bracket, recap of what happened and look ahead to the next games with spots in the World Series on the line.

Updated Bracket

American League

National League

Tuesday’s Results

American League

The Blue Jays kept their season alive with a 5-1 victory thanks to the Josh Donaldson show.

The third baseman started the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning that woke up a slumbering offense, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted:

Donaldson didn’t just do damage with his bat. Cleveland’s Roberto Perez trimmed the deficit to 2-1 with an RBI double in the fifth, and Carlos Santana appeared to find a hole on a potential game-tying hit, but Donaldson caught it with a full-extension dive and fired to first base to end the threat.

Heidi Watney of MLB Network pointed out he was happier with the defense than offense:

That fifth inning was the last legitimate scoring chance for the Indians throughout the game, while Toronto added insurance in the seventh and the eighth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh, and Edwin Encarnacion made Cleveland pay for an intentional walk of Donaldson with a two-RBI single.

Kevin Pillar added an RBI in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. 

The Blue Jays received six innings of one-run baseball from starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez and three shutout innings from the bullpen. As for Sanchez’s counterpart, Corey Kluber allowed two earned runs, four hits and two walks in five innings on short rest.

National League

If it was the Donaldson show in the American League, it was the Rich Hill show in the National League.

The southpaw cruised through six shutout innings against the Cubs and gave the Dodgers the 2-1 lead in the series. He allowed just two hits and struck out six against his former team and overcame a slow start in the second inning when things seemed to be slipping away.

Hill walked Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler, and the two runners eventually ended up on second and third after a Rizzo steal and a passed ball. However, Hill struck out Addison Russell and induced a groundout from Miguel Montero to stifle the threat.

He praised his catcher, Yasmani Grandal, for helping him keep his cool, per Dodger Insider: “Yas did a great job of getting me back on track.”

That wasn’t all Grandal did, as he drilled a two-run homer against Jake Arrieta. Justin Turner also took Chicago’s starter and last year’s National League Cy Young winner deep, and Corey Seager spearheaded much of the offense with three hits and an RBI.

Looking Ahead

American League

Regardless of what happens, Wednesday’s Game 5 will be the final contest in Toronto for the entire ALCS.

According to MLB.com, the Blue Jays will turn toward starting pitcher Marco Estrada, while the Indians will counter with rookie Ryan Merritt. The 24-year-old Merritt appeared in just four games all season—one of which was a start—but he is taking the ball on Wednesday almost out of necessity.

Danny Salazar hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 9 because of a forearm injury, and Carlos Carrasco is out for the year with a hand ailment.

Despite the injury woes, Merritt’s small-sample-size stats are head-turning in just 11 innings. He allowed two earned runs, six hits and zero walks for a 1.64 ERA and 0.55 WHIP. However, pitching in front of a raucous Rogers Centre crowd with their team’s season hanging in the balance will be a different story.

Look for the Toronto offense to continue its momentum from Tuesday’s win against an unprepared Merritt while Estrada pitches six solid innings. The Blue Jays will do enough to shift the series back to Cleveland.

Game 5 prediction: Blue Jays 5, Indians 3

National League

The Cubs won 103 games during the regular season, which was the best mark in all of baseball. Still, their backs are officially against the wall after failing to score in two straight games against the Dodgers following an eight-run outburst in Game 1.

A major part of the concern from Chicago’s point of view comes from the lack of production from three of its key pieces. Season-long MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo is an abysmal 2-for-26 in the playoffs, while Addison Russell is 1-for-24 and Jason Heyward is 2-for-19.

If that threesome continues to struggle, the Cubs’ season will likely end in the NLCS for the second straight year.

They will take their cracks at 20-year-old Julio Urias in Wednesday’s Game 4. While the rookie doesn’t have a postseason start on his resume, he did finish the 2016 campaign with a solid 3.39 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.

The Cubs will send the furthest thing from a rookie they have on their staff to the mound—37-year-old John Lackey. He has 24 playoff appearances in his career with a 3.22 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in those games.

While the Dodgers still have a great chance to ultimately win this series with Clayton Kershaw to unleash in later contests, experience will triumph over youth in Wednesday’s game. Lackey has pitched in big moments throughout his career, so the pressure surrounding this start will be nothing new.

A Chicago offense that finished third in the league with 808 runs will eventually snap out of its slump. Look for it to come against the rookie in a critical Game 4.

Game 4 Prediction: Cubs 6, Dodgers 3

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the driver’s seat in the National League Championship Series.

Now, rookie Julio Urias can steer them to the brink of a World Series berth.

After defeating the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in Game 3 of the NLCS on Tuesday, the Dodgers hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven tussle. They’re two victories away from their first trip to the Fall Classic since 1988.

So far this postseason, L.A. has started ace Clayton Kershaw, Japanese import Kenta Maeda and trade-deadline acquisition Rich Hill. Its bullpen, headlined by closer Kenley Jansen, has taken care of the rest.

In Game 4, however, skipper Dave Roberts will hand the ball to Urias, who will become the youngest starting pitcher in MLB playoff history at 20 years and 68 days old, per Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. (h/t Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). He’s slated to break Bret Saberhagen’s record, as the Kansas City Royals starter was 20 years, 175 days old when he pitched in the 1984 ALCS.

No pressure, kid. 

“Julio, I think that we expect him to just go out there and compete,” Roberts said, per McCalvy. “Use his pitch mix and go after these guys, give us a chance to win a baseball game. It’s what Julio has done all year long.” 

Specifically, it’s what he did in the second half.

In 40.2 innings after the All-Star break, Urias posted a 1.99 ERA with 40 strikeouts. More impressively, he boasted a 1.26 ERA in 35.2 innings since Aug. 8. He has consistently shown the stuff of the standout stud Los Angeles believes he’ll become.

Now, he can prove himself on baseball’s biggest, brightest stage.

These Cubs are potent, even though they’ve scored zero runs in the last two games against L.A. Their lineup is stuffed with budding superstars who can change everything with a single swing.

If you’re looking at backstory, Urias made two starts against the Cubs in the regular season.

On June 2, he yielded eight hits and five earned runs in five innings in a 7-2 loss at Wrigley Field. It was just the second start of his MLB career. He was still 19 years old. He was in the most historic, renowned ballpark in the National League. It wasn’t exactly a fair display of his talent.

On Aug. 27, however, he pitched six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts in a 3-2 victory at Chavez Ravine—where he’ll pitch Wednesday night in front of a full-throated Southern California home crowd. 

That second start made Urias feel “more comfortable” against the Cubs, per David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports. 

But it’s not predictive. The Cubs ranked second only to the mile-high Colorado Rockies among NL clubs in runs and OPS in the regular season. Urias could get whacked on Wednesday, like anyone else.

The burgeoning hurler appears poised for success, though. He’s a different animal from the fresh call-up who took the mound back in June.

Urias is rested, having thrown just two innings since Sept. 29. Those two frames just happened to come in a winner-take-all NLDS Game 5 against the Washington Nationals. He had ice water in his veins during the outing, becoming the youngest MLB pitcher to ever win a postseason game.

And while this is a game the Dodgers would like to win, it’s not one they need to win, so the expectations are marginally less weighty.

Not that Urias can’t take it. The southpaw is still about a year shy of the legal U.S. drinking age, but Roberts called him “calm and cool,” per Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times. 

“Some of it plays to the youthfulness, the naivete, and just not really understanding the gravity of this moment, which is great,” Roberts said, per Moura.

For his part, Urias acknowledged the stakes. 

“It’s something you have to deal with,” he said, per Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune. “I felt the adrenaline when I was on the bench, so I’m thinking it’s something I’m also going to feel [in Game 4].”

No Cubs hitter has anything approaching a deep history against Urias. But Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Jason Heyward have all homered against him. 

“It’ll be easier to establish what we want to do against him, just because we’ve all had at-bats against him,” Bryant said, per MLB.com’s Phil Rogers. “But it’s a different time of the year. I’m sure he’ll be throwing a little harder because it’s the postseason.”

There’s also the controversy over Urias‘ pickoff move, which The Beat’s Justin Russo captured: 

That’s a possible source of grumbling if you’re searching for one. Cubs manager Joe Maddon called it “balking 101,” per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. So keep an eye on that.

Sideshows notwithstanding, however, Urias has a path to October glory if he can outshine veteran Chicago right-hander John Lackey, who was finishing up high school in Abilene, Texas, when Urias was born. He can pen a legend and scribble his name all over it.

“Under normal circumstances,” USA Today‘s Jorge L. Ortiz opined, “the Dodgers brass might have preferred to go with a more experienced starter.” But these aren’t normal circumstances. Injuries have beset L.A.’s starting corps. So here’s Urias, healthy and ready.

The Dodgers are in the driver’s seat. And a kid who’s barely tasted his 20s has his foot poised over the accelerator.

Buckle up.

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

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The Chicago Cubs find themselves in an unexpected position heading into Game 4, but this series is still far from over.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the surprise leaders of the National League Championship Series, currently up 2-1 after the 6-0 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday night. The pitching has been lights out over the last two games, shocking a Cubs team that won 103 games during the regular season.

This puts the pressure on Chicago to even the series or else end up in desperation mode in the coming days.

NLCS Game 4

When: Wednesday, Oct. 19

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

TV: Fox Sports 1

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Preview

The big question after the past two games is the state of the Cubs lineup, which was seemingly unstoppable heading into the series. The offense finished the season third in baseball in runs scored, with Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo representing arguably the best one-two punch in the sport.

Unfortunately, this group has been completely shut down over the past two games by Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill.

Failing to score a single run in two games is embarrassing enough; going 6-for-60 at the plate as a team in this stretch is a disaster. Dexter Fowler’s double was the only extra-base hit.

Ben Finfer of ESPN Radio noted the extended concern going forward:

Of course in baseball, a team is only as good as its next day’s starting pitcher. This puts a lot of pressure on 20-year-old Julio Urias. The Dodgers rookie has pitched only two innings this postseason—he allowed one hit and no runs against the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series—which means he is likely to feel the pressure in by far the biggest start of his career.

The southpaw has a lot of talent, but the Cubs can get after him if they are patient at the plate. If the walks start coming, the hits will follow—and so will the runs.

On the other side, the Cubs will use a pitcher with a lot more playoff experience. John Lackey comes to the mound with a respectable 3.22 ERA in 131.1 career postseason innings. That is almost double the amount of innings Urias has pitched in his entire major league career (79 innings including playoffs).

He also has two World Series titles, and he pitched in both of the championship-clinching games.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon explained the advantage Lackey has compared to a younger pitcher, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times:

You could always say that what you don’t know can’t hurt you — you just go out there and you’re winging it and you’re not over-analyzing it; I get that. But having an experienced guy like John … he really understands what he’s doing out there and how to manipulate and work against certain hitters.

He knows how to use a hitter’s aggressiveness against him. He knows who to stay away from in certain moments. He’ll pick his poison, who to pitch to and who to not pitch to. He has a really good feel for this part of the game.

Even after allowing three runs in four innings in his only other start of the postseason, the Cubs should feel confident sending their fourth starter to the mound Wednesday.

While the Dodgers lineup has been effective, especially Adrian Gonzalez and Corey Seager, this group is not unstoppable.

Still, none of it will matter if the Chicago offense does not come alive. Rizzo’s 3-for-29 in the playoffs stands out, but just about everyone is to blame for the current slide.

The good news is there is enough talent on the roster to turn things around. If just one or two players perform to their ability, the Cubs should be able to break out of the slump and find a way to even up the series.

Prediction: Cubs 4, Dodgers 3

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.

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The 2016 MLB postseason is in full swing, but for the 26 teams no longer in contention, the offseason can’t come soon enough.

This year’s free-agent market is loaded with impact hitters, headlined by Yoenis Cespedes, Edwin Encarnacion, Justin Turner, Ian Desmond, Mark Trumbo, Dexter Fowler, Jose Bautista and Mike Napoli.

The relief pitching market is also deep, with a trio of elite closers in Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon joining quality setup arms like Neftali Feliz, Travis Wood, Brad Ziegler, Brett Cecil and bounce-back candidate Greg Holland.

Then there’s the barren wasteland that is this year’s available starting pitching crop.

Rich Hill, Jeremy Hellickson and Ivan Nova are the top options in a group that also includes Andrew Cashner, Bartolo Colon, Doug Fister and other veterans best suited as organizational depth.

A lot will change in the months to come, but for now let’s take a crack at predicting where the top 15 names of this upcoming free-agent class might wind up landing.

Note: “2017 age” refers to how old a player will be on June 30 of the upcoming season.

Begin Slideshow

The Toronto Blue Jays lived to fight another day after a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday evening in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. 

Now, with their series deficit at 3-1 and the Indians once again one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1997, a quick turnaround awaits both teams, as the first pitch of Game 5 is on Wednesday afternoon:

Game 5 Odds

Courtesy of Odds Shark.

Indians: +1.5

Blue Jays: -1.5

Game 4 was the first time the Blue Jays led in the entire series, as their bats were dormant over the first three games of the ALCS. 

Games 1 and 2 even saw Toronto score a combined one run, which was just the third time in 2016 that they were held to one run or fewer over a two-game span. 

But on Tuesday, reigning American League MVP Josh Donaldson finally announced his presence on the big stage of the ALCS by giving the Blue Jays a lead they would not relinquish:

It was a jolt that Toronto was starving for. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan broke down just how inept its offense was in the first three games:

Donaldson’s bomb was just one of nine hits on the day—more than half the total number of hits the Blue Jays had in Games 1 through 3. 

Now, the Indians will try to stymie any kind of Toronto momentum by rolling out rookie pitcher Ryan Merritt for Game 5 to face Toronto’s Marco Estrada. 

In a limited sample size of just 11 innings (four appearances, one start) this year, Merritt has allowed two runs on six hits. The 24-year-old will become just the second pitcher in MLB history to start a postseason game with one career start, per MLB.com’s Richard Justice. 

That sort of unfamiliarity could prove a challenge to the Blue Jays, as they won’t have many major league outings to scout Merritt from. 

However, the moment could prove too large for Cleveland’s arm, and early struggles could give the Blue Jays an advantage. If that’s the case, expect a short leash, plenty of pitching changes and a lot of reliever Andrew Miller on Wednesday as the Indians look to end the series before heading back to Cleveland.

For ticket information, visit ScoreBig.  

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The Cleveland Indians have a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series, so there’s nothing at all for Terry Francona and his team to be worried about, right?

To borrow a phrase from ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend.

The Indians have a couple of issues after losing their first game of the postseason Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

They sent ace Corey Kluber to the mound with the hope of closing out the Blue Jays in four games. However, Toronto got the jump on Cleveland when third baseman Josh Donaldson launched a third-inning pitch from Kluber over the left field fence, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.

That was the first time the Blue Jays had the lead in the series, and it was the first time the Indians had trailed in the playoffs since the early innings of Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox.

The Blue Jays added a run to make it 2-0, and after the Indians cut it to 2-1, the Blue Jays regained full control when Edwin Encarnacion hit a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to extend the advantage to 4-1.

While Kluber had a human effort and gave up a few runs in the playoffs for the first time in three starts, hard-throwing Aaron Sanchez was sharp for the Blue Jays. He gave up just one run on two hits in six innings.

It still looks like the Blue Jays have a big hill to climb, but the confidence level of John Gibbons’ team should be much higher as a result of the Game 4 win. The Blue Jays appear to have a major advantage in Game 5, as they’ll send Marco Estrada to the mound against Cleveland rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt.

Injuries to the Cleveland pitching staff have put the Indians in a precarious position for fielding starting pitchers.

Kluber is a stud, and Josh Tomlin has also pitched well in the postseason after an up-and-down regular season. But Francona has little to choose from aside from those two. Trevor Bauer has his infamous bloody pinkie finger that forced him to be pulled in the first inning of Game 3. Additionally, starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are both injured. 

That’s why Merritt will get the ball in Game 5. If you don’t know much about him, don’t feel bad. When Gibbons was asked what he knew about Merritt, his response was that he knew he was left-handed, according to Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer.

Merritt pitched 11 innings for the Tribe this season after spending the season at Triple-A Columbus. He gave up six hits and two earned runs in his limited time on the mound, but that’s not much of a sample size.

In addition to their injured starters, the Indians are not hammering the baseball at this point. They have scored nine runs in four games, and if they can’t significantly improve their production in Game 5, they are going to have a difficult time closing out the Jays.

Nevertheless, Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez said his team is not worried. “No one is panicking,” Perez told Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. “They’re a good team. We’re going to show up and play like we always do.”

The Blue Jays are down 3-1 and still have a long way to go. However, they just beat Kluber and have a pulse. If they were able to take care of the Indians’ ace, it seems they should be able to handle a pitcher who does not appear to be ready for prime time.

Keys for Cleveland

Get the bats going. While the story going into Game 4 was the Blue Jays’ inability to get their offense on track, that narrative is changing. The Indians have not scored a run from the seventh inning on in the postseason, and they are struggling to put enough runs on the board.

The Indians would like to get a solid five or six innings out of Merritt, but that may be unrealistic. Francona has been successful to this point in the postseason because the bullpen has been so effective. If the Indians are going to find a way to win this game, they’ll need to get another stellar performance from their bullpen.

If the Indians can get three good innings from Merritt, the bullpen may have to take over from that point. It is essential than Andrew Miller and Co. have a dominant game here.

Keys for Toronto

Jump on top early in this game. The Blue Jays appear to have a huge edge in the starting pitcher matchup, and the sooner they get the lead, the more pressure they can put on the Indians.

Donaldson and Encarnacion are starting to hit, and they have to continue to pound the baseball. If Gibbons can get something out of Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Bautista, they’ll have a chance to register a knockout in this game.

Estrada pitched very well in Game 1, but he got beat when he gave up a two-run homer to Lindor. If he can hold the Indians to two runs here, the Blue Jays should be able to find a way to send the series back to Cleveland.

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Chicago Cubs fans might want to issue an APB on the team’s offense. Chicago was shut out for the second straight game in a 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, the first time that’s happened since May 2014.

It has left serious doubts as to whether this team will be able to even the National League Championship Series at two games after Wednesday’s Game 4.

It is, however, entirely possible. The talent exists on the roster of MLB’s best team this regular season. Care to see how it has to go about it?

Begin Slideshow

LOS ANGELES — By the end of it, a dominant season suddenly fragile, harrowing memories from last October gnawing at their fringes, this is what the toothless Chicago Cubs were reduced to.

In the ninth inning, Anthony Rizzo hacked at a Kenley Jansen cutter, and his bat exploded into three pieces. The biggest piece, the barrel, somehow helicoptered behind him, U-turning like a boomerang in mid-air, and crashed high into the netting behind the plate. The ball? It dribbled toward first base for a single.

Now, Rizzo was 1-for-11 in this National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Broken bat pieces were flying everywhere,” Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant marveled. “That’s the hit we needed.”

That’s what the Cubs were reduced to. A 6-0 pummeling in Game 3, the humiliation of 18 consecutive scoreless innings (and counting) heading into Game 4 and they were hanging onto this as maybe the hit that will scoot them out of their collective slump.

Maybe it’s not quite time to break the glass in case of emergency.

But maybe it is time to pick up a hammer and move into position.

Just don’t let Rizzo or shortstop Addison Russell be the one to wield that hammer. Those two are a combined 1-for-20 in this LCS and 3-for-50 in this postseason.

“We’re not hitting the ball hard,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

And: “Obviously, I have no solid explanation.”

Now, a team that won 103 games this season and spent just one day (out of 183) not in first place will be furiously playing from behind in Game 4 on Wednesday night and beyond.

History is beginning to sandbag them, and I’m not talking that 108-year World Series drought.

No, I’m talking more recent history: Of the nine times a 100-win team has fallen behind 2-1 in a best-of-seven series since 1985—the challenge the Cubs now face—five times that team went on to lose.

More worrisome for the Billy Goat Gang is that four of the past five 100-win teams to fall behind 2-1 went on to lose: the 2005 St. Louis Cardinals (NLCS vs. the Houston Astros), the 2001 Seattle Mariners (ALCS vs. the New York Yankees), the 1997 Atlanta Braves (NLCS vs. the Florida Marlins) and the 1995 Cleveland Indians (World Series vs. the Braves).

Playing from behind is not something the 2016 Cubs are accustomed to.

But it’s something they are faced with, and there’s increasing urgency.

“I feel like last year, the pitchers beat us [in the NLCS, when the New York Mets swept the Cubs],” Bryant said. “I feel like this year, we’ve had some chances.”

From Maddon to nearly every player in that clubhouse, that’s the feeling. That last October, the Cubs simply ran into the wrong pitching staff at the wrong time. But this year, aside from against Clayton Kershaw in Game 2 (as Maddon succinctly put it, “Kershaw happened”), they’ve had plenty of chances. And they’ve blown them.

“In this game, nothing can surprise you,” Cubs catcher Miguel Montero said. “Obviously, things are happening. Obviously, we had high expectations for ourselves. It’s what’s happening now.

“Maybe have a few drinks tonight and forget about this and come back tomorrow.”

Given how dominant the Cubs were this season, this is the time when we thought we’d be toasting them.

Instead, Maddon adjusted his lineup for Game 3, and more changes are expected for Game 4, while he scrambles to keep the Cubs from becoming toast.

Against left-hander Rich Hill on Tuesday, Maddon moved Javier Baez into the five hole, benched struggling right fielder Jason Heyward, inserted Jorge Soler into right field and flip-flopped Rizzo and Ben Zobrist in the lineup.

With rookie lefty Julio Urias set to start Game 4 on Wednesday, who knows, maybe David Ross will be back behind the plate.

Regardless, there are only so many levers Maddon can pull. His team is his team.

And right now, it is keeping sketchy company:

What if somebody had told Montero before this series started that the Cubs would go 18 consecutive innings without scoring?

“I don’t gamble, but I probably would have gambled on that one,” Montero quipped.

Here’s the risk of tweaking the lineup, as the Cubs did in Game 3: You do it, it doesn’t work, then what? That will be Maddon’s Game 4 challenge. Stick with it? Revert to the way the Cubs were? As he said the other day, during the long season you can give things a few dozen games to settle in. That changes drastically in the postseason.

Before Tuesday’s game, Maddon spoke of “rearranging the chairs.” He also acknowledged a little concern over the fact the Cubs “got stuck” offensively in the NLCS last year.

While getting swept by the Mets, the Cubs batted .164 with a .225 on-base percentage and 37 strikeouts in 128 at-bats (a 28.9 percent rate).

Against the Dodgers, the Cubs are batting .161 with a .235 on-base percentage and 25 strikeouts in 93 at-bats (a 26.9 percent rate).

The numbers are eerily similar. It’s October, and the Cubs couldn’t find home plate with a GPS and a metal detector.

“It’s more of a mental trend than a physical trend,” Maddon said. “You have to be able to push back mentally as much as anything right now. Because when it comes down to work, you don’t need any more batting practice or video study or data information. You just have to mentally hang in there and keep pushing back until you get it.

“It’s just about hard contact. Overall, the at-bats haven’t been that bad. We’re just not hitting the balls. We’re not striking it well. So, we’re making it easier on their defense.”

The Cubs beat the Dodgers in four of seven regular-season games this summer. Maybe they’ll find comfort against Urias on Wednesday night because, unlike Kenta Maeda in Game 1 and Hill in Game 3, they’ve faced Urias this year. He started at Wrigley Field on June 2, and the Cubs ambushed him for eight hits and five earned runs in five innings.

However, in a second meeting with Urias, at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 27, the kid held the Cubs to six hits and one run in six innings.

Still, familiarity usually favors the hitters.

“Obviously, we have a history with him, so it will be easier to establish what we want to do,” Bryant said after a night of watching Hill paint the corners with just two pitches, his 74 mph curve and 91 mph fastball.

Momentum swings are notoriously dramatic in these seven-game series, and as Maddon noted, the narrative will change drastically, again, if the Cubs can beat Urias and the Dodgers in Game 4 and even the series.

“We trust in each other,” Baez said emphatically.

Yeah, well, that’s great.

But you know what would be better for the Cubs? Hits.

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

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