Cubs defeat Dodgers 8-4 in Game 5 of the NLCS

BOTTOM OF NINTH: CUBS 8, DODGERS 4

Against Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman, who throws 100 mph with ease and reaches 103 mph on occasion, Adrian Gonzalez walked and Yasiel Puig singled. Joc Pederson grounded out. Josh Reddick pinch-hit for pitcher Ross Stripling and singled into right-center to score Gonzalez. Andrew Toles then notched a sacrifice fly. The final batter of the game, Justin Turner, grounded out to shortstop.

The Dodgers lost, 8-4. They’ve been outscored, 18-6, since they took a 2-1 NLCS lead. They must win both Saturday and Sunday in Chicago to advance to the World Series. Ace Clayton Kershaw will start Saturday’s game against 2016 major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks.

If the Dodgers win that, left-hander Rich Hill will start Sunday against right-hander Jake Arrieta.

TOP OF NINTH

Right-hander Ross Stripling retired the Cubs quickly. Addison Russell singled, but Willson Contreras lined out and Albert Almora Jr. grounded into an inning-ending double play. It’ll be Adrian Gonzalez beginning the bottom of the ninth for the Dodgers, who remain down by six runs.

BOTTOM OF EIGHTH: CUBS 8, DODGERS 2

Facing Cub reliever Pedro Strop, pinch-hitter Andrew Toles smacked a double and Justin Turner was hit by a pitch. Corey Seager grounded into a deflating double play, but Carlos Ruiz drove in a run with a double. The inning ended when Howie Kendrick lined out to right.

The Dodgers still trail, 8-2, and will be in dire straits shortly.

TOP OF EIGHTH: CUBS 8, DODGERS 1

Right-hander Pedro Baez was Manager Dave Roberts’ choice for the eighth. He could not handle the first ball of the inning, and his error allowed Addison Russell to reach base. Next, the pinch-hitting Willson Contreras laced a ball to right field, and the pinch-hitting Albert Almora Jr. bunted the two men over a base apiece.

Dexter Fowler hit a ball hard to first base. Adrian Gonzalez got to it, got up and faked a throw home. That fake cost him. He reached first just after Fowler, the Cubs scoring another run and keeping runners on the corners with one out for Kris Bryant.

He tapped one to Justin Turner at third base. Turner fielded it without frills but also could not get his throw to first in time to notch an out. Another run scored.

Anthony Rizzo then ripped a ball right to Enrique Hernandez at second base for an out -- initially two, but replay reversed that. With two outs, Ben Zobrist walked, and Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts pulled Baez for right-hander Ross Stripling.

Javier Baez hit Stripling’s fourth pitch for a three-run double to right field, and the Cubs possess a commanding seven-run lead over the Dodgers. Jason Heyward popped out to end the misery for at least a little while.

BOTTOM OF SEVENTH: CUBS 3, DODGERS 1

Adrian Gonzalez tapped the first pitch of the half-inning to second base. He ran as hard as he could for first base, and at first he was ruled safe. After review, however, he was deemed out. He did not protest as he jogged back into the dugout. It turns out the young Cubs second baseman Javier Baez made a splendid play.

Next, Yasiel Puig flied out to right field. Joc Pederson timed a low fastball in time to sneak it into right field. Next, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts sent up Yasmani Grandal to pinch-hit for pitcher Luis Avilan.

Pederson took a big lead but did not take off for second, as the Dodgers have generally done all night, and Grandal grounded out to second base.

The Dodgers do not have much momentum at the moment, and they must score at least two runs before they amass six outs if they hope to avoid playing back-to-back do-or-die games in Chicago.

TOP OF SEVENTH: CUBS 3, DODGERS 1

Joe Blanton rebounded after a bad sixth inning to strike out Kris Bryant. Then Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts pulled him for left-hander Luis Avilan. Anthony Rizzo bunted for a hit against Avilan, who remained in the game to face the right-handed-hitting Ben Zobrist.

Zobrist walked. After a mound visit, Avilan induced a flyout from Javier Baez and a weak foul popout from Jason Heyward. The game remains in reach for the Dodgers, who trail by two runs with nine outs left.

BOTTOM OF SIXTH: CUBS 3, DODGERS 1

Justin Turner lined out to right field before Corey Seager singled to right field. Carlos Ruiz then popped out behind home plate. With two outs, Howie Kendrick struck out swinging. The inning’s over.

Jon Lester has thrown a very nice game for Chicago. He finished six one-run innings last time out, too, but there was much more hard contact that time. He has largely limited the Dodgers to softer hits tonight.

TOP OF SIXTH: CUBS 3, DODGERS 1

Javier Baez notched a first-pitch single off Joe Blanton and soon stole second base. Luckily for the Dodgers, Jason Heyward was up next, and he took a terrible swing at a 3-and-2 slider for a strikeout.

Addison Russell rectified that, though, clubbing a bad 0-and-1 slider over the center-field will for a two-run homer, his second in as many nights. This one traveled 419 feet. Russell, 22, has some pop in his bat.

David Ross next doubled, and Jon Lester popped out before Dexter Fowler did the same to end the inning. Nobody warmed behind Blanton during the inning, so he may be asked to handle the seventh, too.

BOTTOM OF FIFTH: DODGERS 1, CUBS 1

Joc Pederson led off with a hard groundout to second baseball Javier Baez. Andre Ethier next pinch-hit for Grant Dayton and struck out swinging. Leadoff hitter Enrique Hernandez soon did the same.

It’s still tied. While Jon Lester continues on, it’ll be right-hander Joe Blanton pitching for the Dodgers in the top of the sixth inning.

TOP OF FIFTH

Josh Fields got one more out, a Dexter Fowler groundout, before Kris Bryant smacked a double to the center-field wall and ended his evening. The next in a parade of Dodger relievers to pitch tonight will be left-hander Grant Dayton.

As right-hander Joe Blanton warmed behind him, Dayton struck out Anthony Rizzo and lucked out on a line out from Ben Zobrist. This game remains tied.

BOTTOM OF FOURTH: DODGERS 1, CUBS 1

After Carlos Ruiz flied out, Howie Kendrick smashed a ball down the left-field line, and the Dodgers were in some early business, with a man on second and one out. Kendrick then took a 35-foot lead off second base, according to Statcast, and stole third despite a splendid throw from Cubs catcher David Ross. Kendrick was called out initially but confirmed safe after a 49-second replay review.

Adrian Gonzalez followed with a grounder to first base. Anthony Rizzo seemed to field it with intent to throw home, but he fumbled the initial pick-up and instead flipped to first for an out. The inning ended once Yasiel Puig popped out to shortstop.

This game’s tied. The score is 1-1.

TOP OF FOURTH: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

Javier Baez doubled to the left-field wall to lead off the inning, but the Dodgers’ bullpen remained silent. Kenta Maeda worked the count to 1-and-2 against Jason Heyward, then drilled him in the right hip with a fastball.

The Dodgers’ bullpen began to stir. Josh Fields started throwing. Maeda struck out Addison Russell, then induced a flyout from David Ross. With two outs, Maeda was pulled before he could face his Cubs counterpart, Jon Lester.

For his night, he struck out six Cubs in four innings of one-run baseball, walking two and yielding three hits. Considering how it started, that is pretty good.

Fields got Lester to fly out to end the inning. Chicago still leads, 1-0.

BOTTOM OF THIRD: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

Kenta Maeda, batting, began by grounding a ball up the middle off Jon Lester, literally. It deflected off his glove to shortstop Addison Russell, who threw just in time to get Maeda at first base. Enrique Hernandez soon popped up a ball on the infield. With two outs, Justin Turner snuck a grounder under Russell’s glove for a single, then took a massive lead and stole second base without a throw.

Turner took another huge lead off second base, but never tried for third. Lester struck out Corey Seager on a 3-and-2 sinker at the bottom of the zone.

The Dodgers have two hits off Lester in three innings. He has thrown 47 pitches.

TOP OF THIRD: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

Kenta Maeda struck out Kris Bryant to begin this inning, then quickly retired Anthony Rizzo on a flyout. Ben Zobrist struck out to end by far Maeda’s easiest inning so far tonight. He threw one dozen pitches.

BOTTOM OF SECOND: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

The count was 3-and-2 between Jon Lester and Adrian Gonzalez. Lester fired a 95-mph fastball that appeared to cross the plate below the strike zone, but home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez called it a strike. Gonzalez complained as he walked back to the Dodgers’ dugout.

Yasiel Puig soon flied a 300-foot drive to center field for an out, and Joc Pederson followed by bunting back to Lester, who fielded it and threw on a hop to first base. The awkward throw still got there before Pederson, though, and the Cubs continue to lead, 1-0, after two innings.

TOP OF SECOND: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

Kenta Maeda began the second inning by striking out Addison Russell, then carried the count to 3-and-2 on Cubs catcher David Ross. Maeda then hung a slider, which Ross hit hard but foul. The next pitch missed altogether, and Ross took first base as Maeda grimaced.

Jon Lester next swung at a 1-and-0 slider It went for a flyout to left field. Maeda escaped the inning when he retired Dexter Fowler on a weak comebacker.

The Dodgers’ starter has thrown 45 pitches through two innings. If he can finish two more innings, the Dodgers would probably be pleased.

BOTTOM OF FIRST: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

Jon Lester walked Enrique Hernandez on four pitches, a wonderfully auspicious start for the Dodgers. Lester, of course, has The Thing, where he is afraid to throw to first base for pickoff attempts and cannot really do it. But the thing about the thing is that to exploit it, the Dodgers must convince their players to take oddly huge leads at first base.

Hernandez took a 20-foot lead off first, but did not try to steal second. He did take second base when Corey Seager shot a single into left after Justin Turner struck out. Hernandez then took third when Carlos Ruiz flew out to the right-field warning track. With runners on the corners and one out, Howie Kendrick grounded out to third base on the first pitch he saw.

Lester threw 18 pitches in a scoreless first inning.

Kenta Maeda reacts as Cubs Dexter Fowler crosses the plate.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

TOP OF FIRST: CUBS 1, DODGERS 0

After a surprise visit from retired broadcaster Vin Scully — he announced it was time for Dodger baseball from a suite — Dexter Fowler led Game 5 of the tied NLCS off with a single to center against Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda.

Up next, Kris Bryant hit a routine flyout to left field. The Dodgers then shifted against Anthony Rizzo, but he lashed a baseball into the right-field corner for an RBI double. Rizzo began to use teammate Matt Szczur’s bat after striking out twice Wednesday, and since then he has repeatedly ripped the ball. Aren’t superstitions great?

Ben Zobrist subsequently walked. Maeda, slowing his pace considerably, eventually struck out Javier Baez to bring up Jason Heyward. Maeda got the count to 2-and-2, at which point Heyward tapped a ball toward third base. Had it stayed fair, the Cubs would have had the bases loaded. But the ball turned foul, finally. Heyward won struck out on a high fastball.

Maeda, the 28-year-old who was so reliable for so much of his rookie season, threw 26 pitches in all. The Cubs lead, 1-0. It could have been worse.

Those who watched John Lackey pitch for the Angels from 2002-2010 were not surprised by the Cubs right-hander’s extreme reaction to Chicago second baseman Javier Baez throwing away a potential double-play grounder in the first inning of the Cubs’ 10-2 Game 4 victory Wednesday night.

Lackey screamed several obscenities, an overt display of frustration—or was it petulance?—that appeared to show up Baez, a 23-year-old who has made some of the best plays of this post-season. Baez, no doubt, felt the same wrath that many Angels infielders felt when they booted balls behind Lackey last decade.

Cubs Manager Joe Maddon is no stranger to Lackey’s antics. He was the Angels’ bench coach during Lackey’s first four years in Anaheim and knows there is little he can do to douse Lackey’s competitive fire.

“It’s John,” Maddon told Cubs beat writers before Game 5. “He vibrates at that frequency. You know that. He’s an edgy human being. He’s an edgy baseball player. So if you’re surprised by it, that’s your fault. John’s always been that guy. He gets angry.”

How have the Cubs’ younger players responded this season to Lackey, who signed a two-year, $32-million deal with Chicago last winter?

“I think they handle it really well, actually,” Maddon said. “I don’t think they cower to any of that.”

Maddon said in spring training that he hoped Lackey, 38, would “bring a little edge to the group.” On that front, Lackey, who also fumed when Maddon pulled him after he walked two batters to open the fifth inning Wednesday night, has not disappointed.

“When I’m on the mound, I’m out there competing, I’m trying to win,” Lackey said earlier this season. “I’m not really that concerned about what people think.”

( Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts did not say Clayton Kershaw would “absolutely not” pitch in this game — as he did before Kershaw closed Game 5 of the division series — but he came pretty close, and indications are Kenta Maeda will indeed make this start.

He has started twice this postseason, and the Dodgers have lost both times. But his four-inning outing in Game 1 of this series was not terrible. He gave up four hits, three walks and three runs, and if he does that Thursday the club should again have a chance to win.

Lester’s Game 1 statistics were good: six innings, four hits, one run. But the Dodgers hit the ball hard against him and Cubs Manager Joe Maddon pulled Jon Lester after 77 pitches. There’s also the matter of his trouble throwing to first base, of which the Dodgers — and every other team in baseball — are aware. The Dodgers need their hits to miss some gloves in order take full advantage.

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The Chicago Cubs are threatening to regain control of the National League Championship Series and the pitcher the Dodgers has assigned to face them in Game 5 is … Kenta Maeda?

The same Kenta Maeda who has lasted a combined seven innings in his two playoff starts. The same Kenta Maeda who has a postseason earned-run average of 6.75. The same Kenta Maeda who is almost a month removed from his last victory.

Before you start asking if Manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers front office came down with a case of collective amnesia, they still remember they have Clayton Kershaw on their roster.

Scary as the idea of starting Maeda might be, the Dodgers have to do this. They have leaned heavily on Kershaw in the last couple of weeks, perhaps too much. Kershaw can’t pitch every four days for the entire postseason and expect to still be standing at the end of the World Series. At some point, the team’s other starters will have to do their jobs.

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