Chicago hits power switch at last
Rizzo, Russell homer to spark lopsided victory
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and the rest of the Chicago Cubs’ bats broke out in a big way.
Rizzo homered and ended a postseason slump with three RBIs, Russell’s tworun drive highlighted a fourrun fourth that stopped Chicago’s 21-inning scoreless streak, and the Cubs routed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 102, Wednesday to even the NL Championship Series at 2-2.
Kenta Maeda is set to start for the Dodgers in Game 5 Thursday against Jon Lester.
Following consecutive shutout losses, the Cubs rapped out 13 hits on an 80degree night with the warm Santa Ana winds fluttering the flags in center field.
Julio Urias became the youngest starting pitcher to take the mound in a postseason game when he started fir the Dodgers.
But a Cubs youngster made sure the night didn’t belong to the 20-year-old Urias.
The 22-year-old Russell’s homer drove Urias from the game. Urias was charged with four earned runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 3⅔ innings.
At 20 years, 68 days, Urias overtook Bret Saberhagen as the youngest postseason starter. Saberhagen was 20 years, 175 days when he pitched for the Royals in the 1984 American League Championship Series against the Tigers.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game he didn’t think he needed to have a conversation with Urias to remind him how to handle himself.
“I expect him to go out there, prepare like he has been and pitch the way that he has,” Roberts said. “Regardless of the stage, I expect Julio to be Julio.”
Urias worked out of a tight spot in the second after Javier Baez walked and Willson Contreras reached on an error when Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley dropped a barehanded catch on a feed from Corey Seager. Urias struck out Jason Heyward and prompted Russell to fly out to the warning track in left field.
But he found himself in a worse spot in the fourth. Two of Urias’ previous three outings came in long relief as the Dodgers closely monitor his innings workload in his first year, and he hadn’t thrown more than 58 pitches in a major-league game since Sept. 13.
He was nearing that total in the fourth when Ben Zobrist, Baez and Contreras hit three singles in a row halted the Cubs’ scoreless streak.