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After suffering through back-to-back shutouts in Games 2 and 3 of the National League Championship Series, the Chicago Cubs‘ slumbering offense awoke for a 10-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 to tie the series at two games apiece.

Addison Russell and Anthony Rizzo, who had both been slumping badly throughout the postseason, both homered to trigger the Chicago attack. Both men had three hits in the game, with Russell scoring two runs and driving in two while Rizzo scored two and drove in three runs.

While the Cubs got back to work at the plate, the Dodgers were held to six hits and committed four errors. 

The Cubs, whose 103-58 record was the best in baseball during the regular season, have seemingly recaptured the momentum that had disappeared in their consecutive losses.

They will attempt to regain the lead in the series Thursday night in Game 5 at 8:08 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium, sending left-handed ace Jon Lester to the mound to face Kenta Maeda of the Dodgers. The game will be televised on FS1, and the live stream is available on Fox Sports Go.

Some thought the Dodgers would send Clayton Kershaw to the mound in Game 5 on short rest, but Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts opted to go with Maeda.

The Washington Nationals tagged Maeda with a loss in the National League Division Series, and he allowed three runs on four hits in Game 1 against the Cubs.

Roberts explained his decision to go with Maeda to the media prior to Game 4.

“Well, I think that [Thursday] isn’t a deciding game,” Roberts said, per CBSSports.com. “It’s not an elimination game. And I think the accumulation of [Kershaw’s] usage over the last 10 days plays a factor in our decision.”

Lester has been in good form this postseason, as he is 1-0 with a 0.64 earned run average. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he gave up one run and four hits in six innings. Manager Joe Maddon replaced him after that, even though it looked like he could have gone further after throwing just 77 pitches.

Lester is coming off a strong regular season that included a 19-5 record, a 2.44 ERA and a 1.016 WHIP. He also struck out 197 batters and walked 52 in 202.2 innings.

Lester has also had success throughout his career in the postseason. The 6’4″, 240-pound Tacoma, Washington, native has a 2.57 ERA and 1.027 WHIP in 18 career appearances.

Lester’s status as one of the best money pitchers in baseball helps the Cubs in the eyes of the oddsmakers. Chicago is a -151 (bet $151 to win $100) favorite to take the 3-2 lead in the series, according to Odds Shark. The Dodgers are +141 (bet $100 to win $141) underdogs in the game.

Kershaw is scheduled to pitch Game 6 of the series on Saturday night against Kyle Hendricks. If the series goes the full seven games, Rich Hill of the Dodgers and Chicago’s Jake Arrieta are likely to be slated for a rematch.

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With the American League pennant wrapped up, the final stage of the 2016 MLB playoffs is nearly set as the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers are now interlocked in a 2-2 series.

For the first time since 1997, the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series. Despite several key injuries, the team used timely hitting and a dynamite bullpen to beat the high-powered Toronto Blue Jays in five games. Cleveland has not won baseball’s top prize since 1948, which is the longest active drought of any AL team, per Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated.

As for the National League Championship Series, the Cubs bats finally showed some life to get Chicago back into the series. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ lack of pitching depth looks to be hurting the team the longer this matchup goes on.

Take a look below at the television and live-streaming schedule for the remainder of the postseason. Continue reading for a look at the top comments, highlights and key statistics for the Indians and the NLCS. 

Cleveland Continues to Disprove Doubters

With two starters in Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar out with injuries, it appeared that Cleveland would not have enough pitching to conquer two elite offenses in Boston and Toronto. Yet, players like Ryan Merritt have defied that notion.

Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista seemed rather confident before taking on the unknown Merritt, a 24-year-old who made his second-ever MLB start—and first in the playoffs—in Game 5.

“With our experience in our lineup, I’m pretty sure [Merritt]’s going to be shaking in his boots more than we are,” Bautista said prior to the game, per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.

After Merritt allowed only two hits in 4.1 scoreless innings in the Indians’ 3-0 win, Cleveland was not shy in responding to the comments, per the Boston Herald‘s Evan Drellich:

Cleveland ace Corey Kluber also took to Twitter for his own take:

While Merritt’s performance helped clinch the series’ deciding game, the Cleveland bullpen has been the star of its postseason run.

Manager Terry Francona has opted with leaning on his relief staff often in these playoffs, and the unit has shined, as the numbers below show:

Andrew Miller has led this charge, as the trade-deadline acquisition is leading the bullpen in innings pitched while absolutely dominating with a commanding fastball and complementary slider, netting him nearly two strikeouts per inning. His stuff was on full display in another extended appearance in Game 5 of the ALCS, via MLB.com:

Boston led the majors in runs scored this season, and Toronto possessed one of the scariest lineups in baseball that allowed it to rank fourth in MLB in home runs. Thus, the Cleveland bullpen should be able to handle either the Cubs or the Dodgers in the Fall Classic.

The key for the Indians will be building early leads. Kluber, and possibly Josh Tomlin, is the team’s only given as far as a bona fide starter, so Cleveland cannot ride its rotation too heavily. If the Indians hold a lead by the fifth inning, they should be expected to win, which is a frightening proposition for opponents as the Cleveland bullpen essentially cuts the game in half.

Can the Cubs Continue Offensive Resurgence?

Despite featuring a deep, loaded lineup that is headlined by NL MVP candidates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Chicago has been mired in an offensive slump in these playoffs.

The team came into Game 4 of the NLCS averaging just over 3.5 runs per game and hitting .185 as a team, which is the worst by far of any club remaining in the postseason. Yet, Bryant was not too worried about his squad’s struggles after it failed to score a run in consecutive losses to the Dodgers, per the Chicago Tribune‘s Mark Gonzales.

“We’ll figure it out,” Bryant said. “We’re very confident here. The peaks and valleys of this game sometimes make you go crazy, but we got more games to play.”

That assurance came to fruition, as the Cubs seemingly grabbed the momentum in this series with a 10-2 thrashing of Los Angeles in Game 4. The team scored all 10 runs in a three-inning span between the fourth and sixth with Rizzo breaking out of his slump for three RBI and Addison Russell hitting a two-run jack. The two were due to step up, per MLB Stat of the Day:

After the game, other Cubs echoed Bryant’s sentiment that the team was confident it would find offense, including veteran Ben Zobrist, per CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney:

Jason Heyward, another Cub in a deep offensive struggle, commented that just getting people on base was key to the team’s performance, as it had not done that much this postseason, per Gonzales:

It was tough when you have nobody on base, trying to get people on base. Until you get somebody on base, you cant steal first. Until you can do that, it’s tough. There’s a lot of pressure, especially in the postseason. We were able to do that with some singles. It wasn’t home runs. It was singles.

We got people on base and it allowed us to hit a ground ball to second base. The first (at-bat) was a tough AB, trying to put the ball in play. (Urias) made some pitches to Rizzo and me, but it’s a lot easier to get that run home with a runner on third base with less than two outs.

The win was not without some controversy. With the game scoreless in the second inning, Adrian Gonzalez appeared to score at home, but he was called out in a play that stood up on review, via MLB.com:

This did not make a huge difference in the rout, but it could have changed the game a bit if the Dodgers began with a lead. Gonzalez was heard pleading his case from the dugout on Fox’s television broadcast, and he continued to do so after the game, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

In hopes of taking a critical 3-2 series lead, the Dodgers will turn to Kenta Maeda in possibly their last home game of the season. Maeda was roughed up for four hits and three runs through only four innings in his Game 1 start.

Los Angeles better hope Maeda rebounds from that performance, as it will take on an ace in Jon Lester who has thrived against the Dodgers this season.

The lefty has only allowed a mere two runs in three quality starts while consistently frustrating the Dodgers. This comes as no surprise, considering Los Angeles finished last in the majors this season with a .214 batting average against lefty pitching, according to MLB.com.

Whether or not the Cubs have completely broken out of their slump is not yet known, but the good news is that they do not need to replicate this for Game 5. Lester is an established star in the playoffs, posting a 2.57 career ERA in 18 appearances, including 16 starts.

Chicago will have a tremendous chance to take a series lead back home, as it should only need to score around its average for this postseason to pull out a win. However, this matchup could very well go seven games with Clayton Kershaw looming as a potential Game 6 starter.

Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted. 

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While the Cleveland Indians won the American League Championship Series in a quick five games, there is plenty of drama remaining in the National League showdown between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chicago evened things up at two games apiece with a 10-2 victory in Wednesday’s Game 4, which means Thursday’s Game 5 is a crucial contest that will leave the victor a single win away from a World Series berth.

The Dodgers will want to avoid a 3-2 hole before the series shifts to Wrigley Field for Games 6 and possibly 7, while the Cubs will want to prevent a scenario where Los Angeles holds a 3-2 lead and gives the ball to the dominant Clayton Kershaw.

According to MLB.com, Thursday’s Game 5 starts at 8 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium and will feature Chicago’s Jon Lester squaring off with Los Angeles’ Kenta Maeda. The live stream is available on Fox Sports Go.

Game 5 Preview and Prediction

The Cubs bats woke up in Game 4 after finishing without a single run in their losses in Games 2 and 3. In fact, Chicago’s four runs in the fourth on Wednesday snapped a scoreless streak of 21 innings dating back to the eighth inning of Game 1.

Two key figures led the charge in a much-needed way.

Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell had a combined three hits in the entire playoffs before Wednesday’s contest, but they each blasted home runs in Game 4. Rizzo tallied three hits, three RBI and two runs, while Russell added three hits, two RBI and two runs.

Considering Rizzo was an MVP candidate almost all season with slash numbers of .292/.385/.544 with 32 home runs and 109 RBI, the Cubs need him to be a catalyst in this series. Mark Schanowski of Comcast SportsNet Chicago pointed out how important the slugging first baseman is to the Cubs’ title chances:

Rizzo, Russell and the rest of the Cubs offense will face Maeda in Game 5, but there was some question about whether Kershaw would start in the swing game. Manager Dave Roberts ended that speculation after Wednesday’s contest and said he would stick with Maeda, especially since “tomorrow is not an elimination game or a deciding game,” per Arash Markazi of ESPN.com.

However, Maeda has been a disaster in the playoffs for the Dodgers. He allowed four earned runs, five hits and two walks in three innings in his division series start against the Washington Nationals and followed that up with three earned runs, four hits and three walks in four innings in Game 1 of this series against the Cubs.

Chicago’s pitching situation is much more favorable for Game 5.

Manager Joe Maddon will go with Lester, who was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball this season with a 2.44 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 197 strikeouts in 202.2 innings. The Cy Young candidate has been even better in the postseason with just one run allowed in 14 innings and a 0.71 WHIP.

He should also be fresh after throwing just 77 pitches in six innings of work in Game 1 of this series. He allowed four hits and a single run and was a critical figure in Chicago’s 8-4 victory even though he didn’t get credit for the win after the bullpen blew his lead.

Pressure-packed moments are nothing new for Lester after pitching for the Boston Red Sox from 2006-14. He has 18 career postseason appearances in all with a sparkling 2.57 ERA and 1.03 WHIP.

The Cubs also have a fresh Aroldis Chapman after he wasn’t needed in Wednesday’s blowout victory.

The Dodgers may still win the series with Kershaw likely to start Game 6 and Rich Hill as the most realistic option for a potential Game 7, but Thursday’s matchup significantly favors the Cubs. Look for them to get to Maeda early once again and take a 3-2 lead to Wrigley Field with a chance to earn their first spot in a World Series since 1945.

Game 5 Prediction: Cubs 5, Dodgers 2

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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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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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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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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 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.

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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 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.

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