The Cubs avoided being swept in the NLCS for the second time in three years with a Game 4 victory over the Dodgers. As of right now, that’s all they’ve accomplished: Being down 3-0 is the hardest road in MLB’s postseason, and as of now the Cubs have merely taken their first few steps.
The Cubs won an NLCS game, but now they have to do it 3 more times
Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at the Cubs avoiding the NLCS sweep, and the Yankees pushing ahead of the Astros.
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Clayton Kershaw stands in their way in Game 5 in a rematch of Game 1, as Jose Quintana takes the mound for the Cubs at 8:08 p.m. ET. What’s different this time around, besides being down three games to one and still on the brink of elimination, is that the Cubs are unlikely to have Wade Davis around to help them after he threw 44 pitches in Game 4.
No Davis is no small thing: It’s not a coincidence that the one game he appeared in is the one the Cubs won. In a bullpen full of question marks who are as liable to thrive as they are to disappoint, Davis is the difference maker. Now, the Cubs will have to hope they can hit Kershaw hard enough and early enough that the lack of Davis in Game 5 doesn’t come back to bite them.
Now, having Davis throw 44 pitches was necessary, as there is no Game 5 if the Cubs don’t close out Game 4. It does make Game 5 more difficult for Chicago, but that’s a good problem to have considering the alternative was no Game 5 at all, and they’ll gladly make similar sacrifices with other players on Thursday night if it means there will be a Game 6 on Saturday.
- The Cubs might have won a game since Grant Brisbee wrote about how difficult it is to come back from 3-0, but they’re still working through that process, and his words still apply.
- The Yankees remain undefeated at home this postseason after knocking their nemesis Dallas Keuchel around, and lead the Astros 3-2 in a series they were down 2-0 in just a few days ago.
- Masahiro Tanaka wasn’t much help to the Yankees until the second half of 2017, but you’d never know that given the way he’s pitching this October.
- The good news for the Dodgers in Game 5 is that Quintana is left-handed, so they won’t have to write Curtis Granderson and Chase Utley into the lineup.
- CC Sabathia has reinvented himself before the Pirates could, which means they’re no longer a likely suitor when he hits free agency.
- The MLB realignment idea floating around is one that could actually hurt the Tigers, writes Bless You Boys.
- Michael Baumann wants to know why so many of MLB’s best managers are botching big decisions.
- The Yankees bullpen deserves a lot of credit, but their rotation has been lights out, too, and it has them within a game of the World Series.
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