Scuffed Balls

Baez snapped an 0-for-20 skid with two home runs, Wade Davis hung on for a six-out save and Cubs avoided a sweep, holding off the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 Wednesday night in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series.

"We have to be much more offensive," manager Joe Maddon said. "It's got to start happening tomorrow. We're going to do this. Going to pull this off, we have to become more offensive tomorrow."

Baez finally got going with a pair of solo drives .

Jake Arrieta pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning to help the Cubs close their deficit to 3-1. Maddon got ejected for the second time in this series in the eighth, and a packed Wrigley Field crowd watched Davis get Cody Bellinger to ground into a game-ending double play.

Maddon was heavily criticized for not using Davis during a 4-1 loss in Game 2. This time, the Cubs closer threw 48 pitches to finish the job.

Willson Contreras also homered for the Cubs. Bellinger and Justin Turner connected for the Dodgers, who had won a team-record six straight playoff games.

Game 5 is Thursday, with Jose Quintana pitching for Chicago against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

"They're the world champs, and you know they're going to fight to the end," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "So today, they did. We got beat today."

Baez hit solo drives in the second and fifth after going hitless in his first 20 playoff at-bats. He had been watching videos and felt his timing was starting to come back in recent trips to the plate.

"I just need to take a step back and see what's going on," he said.

Contreras added a long homer against Alex Wood.

Davis entered with a 3-1 lead in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff homer to Turner, who went 2 for 2 and drew two walks.

Maddon became incensed that a swinging strike three against Curtis Granderson was ruled a foul after the umpires discussed the play. Maddon got tossed, and Granderson struck out swinging at the next pitch.

And after walking Yasmani Grandal to put runners on first and second, Davis struck out Chase Utley , who is hitless in his last 24 postseason at-bats.

All seven of Chicago's runs in this series have come on homers. And long drives in the second by Contreras and Baez made it 2-0.

"Great to have this win, because if not we were going home tomorrow," Baez said. "But I feel like we're still not on track as a team. But I think if we get back on track, everybody as a team, we're going to be the best again."

Contreras' 491-foot homer banged off the left-field videoboard and Baez sent a towering drive out to left.

Bellinger cut it to 2-1 with his drive to right in the third. But Baez got the lead back up to two with a shot to the left-field bleachers in the fifth, the raucous crowd chanting "Javy! Javy!" for the flashy young star who was co-MVP of the NLCS last year.

No Cubs player had hit two in a playoff game since Alex Gonzalez went deep twice in Game 2 of the 2003 NLCS against Miami.

Arrieta exited with runners on first and second in the seventh after walking Chris Taylor on a 3-2 pitch. He tipped his hat as fans gave him a standing ovation, a fitting show of appreciation for a pitcher with an expiring contract.

"Hopefully, it's not a goodbye, it's a thank you, obviously," Arrieta said. "I still intend to have another start in this ballpark. If that's where it ends, I did my best and I left it all out there."

Arrieta turns 32 in March and figures to land a huge deal in free agency. The trade that brought him from Baltimore helped fuel Chicago's rise, with the right-hander capturing the 2015 NL Cy Young Award and contributing to last year's drought-busting championship run.

Limited by a right hamstring injury in the final month of the season, he threw 111 pitches. Brian Duensing retired Bellinger on a fly to end the seventh.

Turner made it a one-run game with his homer off the left-field videoboard against Davis in the eighth.

A career-high 16-game winner, Wood gave up three runs and four hits in 42/3 innings.

"The only frustrating thing is we fell a run short," Turner said. "We played a great game, they played a great game. They just hit one more ball over the fence than we did."

FINISHING UP

Maddon said Davis would not be available on Thursday.

"So other guys got to do it," Maddon said. "We have to be much more offensive. It's got to start happening tomorrow. We're going to do this. Going to pull this off, we have to become more offensive tomorrow."

QUOTABLE

Chicago's Kyle Schwarber on all the Cubs' runs coming on homers in the series: "That's fine. A run's a run, anyway you can get them in. Obviously, we want to manufacture some runs, but we won a ballgame 3-2 hitting homers; I'll take that, too."

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Tanaka, Yankees top Keuchel, Astros 5-0 for 3-2 lead in ALCS

On October 18, 2017, in Houston, NY Yankees

NEW YORK -AP- Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and the New York Yankees finally solved Houston Astros nemesis Dallas Keuchel, beating the ace lefty 5-0 on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series.

Gary Sanchez hit an RBI single off Keuchel and later homered to help the wild-card Yankees win for the third straight day at home and move within one victory of their first trip to the World Series since 2009.

The teams head back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday night, when Justin Verlander and the reeling Astros will try to regain their footing following an off day and force a decisive Game 7. Luis Severino is scheduled to start for New York.

Just days ago, Houston was up two games to none and appeared to be closing in on its second World Series appearance. But the Astros, like defending AL champion Cleveland before them, have been unable to put away these poised Yankees, who improved to 6-0 at home in this postseason in front of their cheering, chanting fans.

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Cubs 3- Dodgers 2 NLCS Game 4 Box Score 10/18/17

On October 18, 2017, in Chi Cubs, Game Box Scores, LA Dodgers

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
LAD	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	4	0
CHC	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	3	5	0

Los Angeles Dodgers

BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Taylor SS	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	.267
Bellinger 1B	5	1	1	1	0	1	3	.235
Turner 3B	2	1	2	1	2	0	0	.385
Puig RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	2	.385
Ethier LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	5	.250
Granderson CF	4	0	0	0	0	4	2	.000
Grandal C	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	.000
a- Culberson PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Cingrani P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
Fields P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
Utley 2B	3	0	0	0	0	2	4	.000
Wood P	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Stripling P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
Watson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
b- Pederson PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Maeda P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
Barnes C	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.100
Totals	29	2	4	2	8	12	18	-

a-ran for Grandal in 8th. b-grounded into a fielder's choice for Watson in 7th.

BATTING

HR: Bellinger (1, 3rd inning off Arrieta, 0 on, 1 out); Turner (2, 8th inning off Davis, 0 on, 0 out)

TB: Turner 5; Bellinger 4; Puig

RBI: Turner (6); Bellinger (1)

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Utley; Ethier; Bellinger

GIDP: Utley; Bellinger

Team RISP: 0-for-3

Team LOB: 9

Chicago Cubs

BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	SO	LOB	AVG
Almora Jr. CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
Schwarber LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	.111
Heyward RF	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Bryant 3B	4	0	0	0	1	2	.188
Rizzo 1B	3	0	0	0	3	0	.077
Contreras C	3	1	1	1	1	0	.214
Russell SS	3	0	0	0	2	0	.154
Báez 2B	3	2	2	2	0	0	.222
Jay RF-LF	2	0	0	0	2	0	.083
Arrieta P	2	0	1	0	1	0	.500
Duensing P	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
Davis P	1	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Totals	29	3	5	3	11	5	-

BATTING

HR: Contreras (1, 2nd inning off Wood, 0 on, 1 out); Báez 2 (2, 2nd inning off Wood, 0 on, 2 out, 5th inning off Wood, 0 on, 1 out)

TB: Báez 8; Contreras 4; Arrieta; Almora Jr.

RBI: Báez 2 (2); Contreras (1)

2-Out RBI: Báez

Game-winning RBI: Contreras

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bryant

Team RISP: 0-for-2

Team LOB: 3

FIELDING

DP: 2 (Rizzo-Russell; Báez-Russell-Rizzo)

Los Angeles Dodgers

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	SO	HR	ERA
Wood L (0-1)	4.2	4	3	3	7	3	5.79
Stripling	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Watson	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Maeda	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Cingrani	0.2	1	0	0	1	0	0.00
Fields	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Totals	8.0	5	3	3	11	3	-

PITCHING

HBP: Jay (by Cingrani)

Pitches-Strikes: Wood 70-50; Stripling 9-7; Watson 4-3; Maeda 10-9; Cingrani 19-14; Fields 3-2

Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Wood 4-4; Stripling 2-0; Watson 0-0; Maeda 1-1; Cingrani 2-0; Fields 1-0

Batters Faced: Wood 18; Stripling 3; Watson 1; Maeda 3; Cingrani 4; Fields 1

Inherited Runners-Scored: Stripling 1-0; Fields 2-0

Chicago Cubs

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Arrieta W (1-0)	6.2	3	1	1	5	9	1	1.35
Duensing H (1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.50
Davis S (1)	2.0	1	1	1	3	3	1	4.50
Totals	9.0	4	2	2	8	12	2	-

PITCHING

WP: Arrieta (1)

HBP: Utley (by Arrieta)

Pitches-Strikes: Arrieta 111-63; Duensing 2-1; Davis 48-26

Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Arrieta 6-3; Duensing 0-1; Davis 1-2

Batters Faced: Arrieta 28; Duensing 1; Davis 9

Inherited Runners-Scored: Duensing 2-0

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Yankees 5- Astros 0 ALCS Game 5 Box Score 10/18/17

On October 18, 2017, in Game Box Scores, Houston, NY Yankees

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
HOU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
NYY	0	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	X	5	10	1

Houston Astros

BATTERS	AB	H	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Springer CF	4	1	0	1	2	.111
Reddick RF	4	0	0	2	2	.000
Altuve 2B	4	0	0	0	1	.278
Correa SS	4	1	0	1	1	.263
Gurriel 1B	4	1	0	1	0	.235
Bregman 3B	4	0	0	0	1	.118
Beltrán DH	3	0	0	2	1	.083
González LF	3	1	0	1	1	.133
McCann C	2	0	1	1	0	.000
Totals	32	4	1	9	9	-

BATTING

2B: Correa (2, Kahnle); Gurriel (3, Tanaka)

TB: Correa 2; Gurriel 2; González; Springer

Team LOB: 6

New York Yankees

BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner LF	5	1	0	0	0	2	5	.105
Judge RF	3	1	1	1	1	2	0	.313
Sánchez C	4	1	2	2	0	2	1	.167
Gregorius SS	4	0	2	1	0	2	1	.300
Hicks CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.105
Castro 2B	4	1	1	0	0	2	1	.222
Bird 1B	2	0	1	1	2	1	0	.308
T Frazier 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.250
Headley DH	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	.455
Totals	34	5	10	5	3	13	14	-

BATTING

2B: Judge (2, Keuchel); Gregorius (1, Peacock); Castro (1, Keuchel); Headley (1, Harris)

HR: Sánchez (1, 7th inning off Peacock, 0 on, 1 out)

TB: Sánchez 5; Headley 4; Gregorius 3; Castro 2; Judge 2; Bird

RBI: Sánchez 2 (5); Gregorius (1); Bird (2); Judge (6)

Team LOB: 8

Houston Astros

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Keuchel L (1-1)	4.2	7	4	4	1	8	0	3.09
Harris	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	6.75
Peacock	1.1	2	1	1	0	3	1	6.75
Liriano	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
Totals	8.0	10	5	5	3	13	1	-

PITCHING

WP: Liriano (1)

Pitches-Strikes: Keuchel 86-54; Harris 23-12; Peacock 24-18; Liriano 16-8

Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Keuchel 7-2; Harris 0-2; Peacock 1-0; Liriano 2-0

Batters Faced: Keuchel 22; Harris 5; Peacock 6; Liriano 4

Inherited Runners-Scored: Harris 2-0; Peacock 2-0

New York Yankees

PITCHERS	IP	H	BB	SO	ERA
Tanaka W (1-1)	7.0	3	1	8	1.38
Kahnle	2.0	1	0	1	0.00
Totals	9.0	4	1	9	-

PITCHING

WP: Tanaka (2)

Pitches-Strikes: Tanaka 103-68; Kahnle 20-14

Ground Balls-Fly Balls: Tanaka 10-5; Kahnle 1-3

Batters Faced: Tanaka 26; Kahnle 7

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