Cubs stun Giants with late comeback
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Javier Baez capped a four-run rally in the top of the ninth inning with a run-scoring single that lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday and a 3-1 National League Division Series win.
The Chicago uprising against five San Francisco relievers denied the Giants an 11th consecutive win in an elimination game, which would have extended their own record.
With Matt Moore limiting the Cubs to two hits over eight innings and Conor Gillaspie contributing four singles to an 11-hit attack, the Giants were three outs away from forcing a fifth and deciding game when they took a 5-2 lead into the ninth.
The Cubs had other ideas, however, and the uprising began when Kris Bryant grounded a leadoff single off right-hander Derek Law.
Lefty Javier Lopez came on for one batter and walked Anthony Rizzo, bringing the potential tying run to the plate and producing closer Sergio Romo from the bullpen.
Ben Zobrist greeted Romo with a double into the right field corner, scoring Bryant and putting the tying runs in scoring position with still no outs.
Lefty Will Smith was summoned to face pinch hitter Chris Coghlan, who was pulled in favor of a right-handed hitter, Willson Contreras. The catcher grounded a two-run, game-tying single up the middle.
Jason Heyward was then called upon to sacrifice, and he bunted back to the mound. Smith got the lead runner at second, but Brandon Crawford threw wildly to first base, allowing Heyward to reach second.
The error was Crawford’s second of the game.
Baez then singled up the middle against the Giants’ fifth pitcher of the inning, Hunter Strickland, to score Heyward with the eventual game-winner.
Aroldis Chapman, who blew a save for the Cubs in Monday’s 13-inning loss, struck out the side in the ninth to record his third save of the series, sending the Cubs into the next round.
Hector Rondon (1-0), who worked a scoreless eighth inning, got the win. Smith (0-1) was credited with the loss, even though the run off him was unearned.
The Cubs move on to their second consecutive NL Championship Series, beginning on Saturday at Wrigley Field. They will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals, who are currently tied at 2-2, in the best-of-seven series.
The win for the Cubs was just their fourth in nine potential close-out games in their postseason history. (Reuters)
Utley keys Dodgers win in 8th
Pushed to the brink of an early elimination for the third year in a row, the Dodgers showed their fortitude Tuesday with a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals that forced a Game 5 in their NL Division Series.
Chase Utley’s RBI single in the eighth capped a two-out rally that lifted the Dodgers after they had blown a three-run lead in the previous inning, wasting a gutsy start on three days’ rest by staff ace Clayton Kershaw.
“If anyone gives up on this team, they haven’t see us play a whole lot this year,’’ said manager Dave Roberts, whose club led the NL with 46 come-from-behind wins. “And it starts with what Clayton did – short rest and leaving it all out there. Everyone fed off that.’’
Rich Hill apparently will get a chance to play a similar role in Thursday’s decisive matchup with Cy Young Award favorite Max Scherzer. Although Roberts would not publicly commit to the veteran left-hander, Hill said he was informed after Tuesday’s game that he would get the ball – only the second time he ever starts on short rest.
Pitching on three days’ rest for the fourth consecutive postseason, Kershaw struck out 11 and came within a strike of completing seven innings of two-run ball.
The Dodgers led 5-2 in the seventh when, with two on and two outs, reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper engaged Kershaw in a dramatic eight-pitch at-bat. After fouling off a couple of 3-2 fastballs in the mid-90s, Harper walked to load the bases.
It took three pitches for the Dodgers bullpen to spoil the work Kershaw had built over 110.
Reliever Pedro Baez, pitching in his third day in a row and fourth game of the series, hit Jayson Werth with his first offering to force in a run. He was replaced by Luis Avilan, and Daniel Murphy greeted him by lacing a 1-0 fastball to left for a two-run single that tied the game 5-5. Joe Blanton, the inning’s third reliever, finally quelled the uprising by striking out Anthony Rendon with runners on first and third.
The Dodgers had knocked Washington starter Joe Ross out of the game with two-run outburst in the first – powered by Adrian Gonzalez’s homer with a runner on – and another one in the third, which Kershaw started with a leadoff double.
Each rally came in response to single runs by the Nationals, each driven in by Murphy, who is batting .417 in the series and set a franchise record with his four-RBI game.
But except for Joc Pederson’s run-scoring double in the fifth, the Dodgers were again silenced by Washington’s relievers, who did not even allow a runner past first base in the final 4-plus innings of Monday’s Game 3.
Blake Treinen got the first two outs of the eighth before hitting Andrew Toles with a pitch, then yielding a pinch-hit single to Andre Either, setting up the scene for Utley. The 14-year veteran ripped a single to right, then helped closer Kenley Jansen complete a 1-2-3 save with a sparkling defensive play for the game’s final out, charging Harper’s slow roller and shoving the ball to first with his glove.
(USA Today/TNS)