Fresh off pounding the Cubs last night to take a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. The Dodgers will look to their youth tonight in a pivotal game 4. Julio Urias 5-2 3.39 ERA will take the mound and be opposed by veteran John Lackey 11-8 3.35 ERA.
Game time 508pm FSN 1
Tonight is a swing game to me. If the Dodgers take a 3-1 lead, then I feel we are World Series bound. If the Cubs win tonight they know we are headed back to Chicago. Also tonight’s result will determine whether Clayton Kershaw pitches or Kenta Maeda for game 5. As of this moment, Maeda is scheduled to go for game 5.
Dave Roberts confirms Kenta Maeda — not Clayton Kershaw — will start Game 5, regardless of today's result. @Dodgers @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 19, 2016
Cubs Lineup:
Fowler CF,
Bryant 3B,
Rizzo 1B,
Zobrist LF,
Baez 2B,
Contreras C,
Heyward RF,
Russell SS,
Lackey P
Julio Urias (20.068) will be the youngest pitcher to start a postseason game, breaking the record held by…
Bret Saberhagen (20.175)
— Kurtis Seaboldt 🎤 (@KSeaboldt) October 19, 2016
How has Urias fared against the Cubs batters.
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Javier Baez | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | 1.250 | 1.750 |
| Kris Bryant | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .833 | 1.167 |
| Willson Contreras | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Dexter Fowler | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .400 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Jason Heyward | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.667 | 2.333 |
| Miguel Montero | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .400 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Addison Russell | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jorge Soler | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .400 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Ben Zobrist | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Totals | 39 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 9 | .359 | .405 | .590 | .99 |
So Contreras and Heyward got put into the lineup. The Cubs have done pretty good against Urias. This might be a bullpen game for the Dodgers. The umpires will be looking at Urias pickoff move.
The key will be to get ahead of hitters and be able to finish them off. Urias needs to focus on not walking batters and he might want to go to his curveball since the Cubs have a lot issues with it. In his first encounter at Wrigley Field on June 2, Urias was the losing pitcher after serving up six runs in five innings. It was only Urias’ second start in the majors. On Aug. 27 at Dodger Stadium, Urias struck out eight, gave up six hits and walked two in six innings to capture a win.
Dodgers Lineup:
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
González 1B
Reddick RF
Pederson CF
Grandal C
Toles LF
Urias P
This season Lackey has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (93mph) and Slider (84mph), also mixing in a Sinker (92mph), Curve (79mph) and Change (85mph). He likes to get people put wit his slider. How have the Dodgers done against Lackey.
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Andre Ethier | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .211 | .286 | .263 | .549 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | .350 | .381 | .400 | .781 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .667 | .500 | 1.167 |
| Howie Kendrick | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .238 | .238 | .238 | .476 |
| Joc Pederson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 |
| Yasiel Puig | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Josh Reddick | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .200 | .000 | .200 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .231 | .231 | .231 | .462 |
| Justin Turner | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 |
| Chase Utley | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .154 | .267 | .308 | .574 |
| Totals | 102 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 21 | .235 | .297 | .275 | .572 |
Looks like Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner are really the only guys with any good results. It’s going to be up to them to apply the pressure to Lackey. Lackey in his career is 6-3 with a 1.75 ERA against the Dodgers. This will be the first time the Dodgers will see Lackey this year. I hope Urias displays his usual poise today and doesn’t let the Cubs bats wake up. The Dodgers and their underdog mentality have a chance to take control of this series.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
Follow Me:
Do not like the lineup…I would play Ethier in RF or LF……he has a lot of experience against Lackey. Lets see how the kid looks….
If I were driving the last bus out of LA just before the final earthquake and had room for only one more passenger; and Josh Reddick and Charles Manson wanted to get on, I’d say,”Hop aboard, Charley”…
Pivotal is right. And if we win I expect Kershaw to go tomorrow. But first thing first. You know the Cubs are looking for one lucky break to get their offense rolling. A 20 year old vs a team which won over 100 games??? Let’s do this! Go Dodgers!
How good has our pitching been?? I was reading on a Cubbie site that the last 2 games have actually been the worst offensive performance in MLB postseason history….. 0 runs on 6 hits over 2 games is tied with the 1919 White (Black) Sox team. The Sox actually had 4 more base runners than these Cubs…. So… The Cubs offensive performance over the last 2 games is not only the worst ever but worse than a 1919 Black Sox team that was being paid to lose….
Come on KID!!! Show the world that you are the next Dodgers ace!!!
Hey guys! You ready for another win tonight?
Today Dave Roberts said you can’t ignore data showing starting pitchers’ declining effectiveness as game goes on: “Those are facts.”
This just compounds that starters only going 5 or 6 could be the new normal with this organization.
Game of centimeters.
A Gon was safe. I guess we know the fix is in. I think Urias and the team will answer in the 3rd.
Just don’t get throwing it in the zone 0-2.
I don’t either. This whole game has been awful. JT getting picked off 2-6.. blown call at home.. Hernandez K zone. Why doesn’t he make him chase something 0-2? He threw strikes both times. I dunno… I hate Lackey!! Oh and disregard that stupid story I talked about reading above…. I am turning the game and my iPad off right now!!
Well this sucks so far.
Long series here we come
Gas can Baez
Kike over Puig? Madden said thank you and I don’t need to burn Edwards for Kike.
Hawkeye
Kike being on this roster, doesn’t allow Roberts to use Ruiz in those situations.
And Kike was the one that threw the ball away, in this inning.
Why is Kike getting all of these chances?
Why have Ruiz on the bench, if you can’t use him?
He has delivered twice already, unlike Kike all year.
And why is a ten year major league second base man playing left, instead of Kike, who moves much better, and has a better arm?
I guess it is the same reason that Reddick is playing over players, that are much better then him.
Who is pushing Kike, the guys who traded for him?
And I know they traded for Ruiz, but Ruiz has already paid off!
Whether it was Ruiz or Puig they were going to switch to Edwards in my opinion. When he went Kike, Maddon didn’t feel the need to pull Montgomery.
Sloppy play tonight. Almost seems a bit uninspired.
Some of the moves have gone their way instead of ours tonight.
Baseball has a way of evening things out.
But there is still a lot of baseball to play tonight.
Don’t count the grinders out.
OK… Ugh
Tim
Did you enjoy Bucks little spot on Rizzo kissing the umpires A?
We should have figured that a team that won 103 games would not go down easy.
Urias did a nice job… until he didn’t. I am excited for next year.
This game is over.
Does Clayton pitch tomorrow. I know what Roberts said… Does Clayton pitch?
Why are they giving more importance to Kike, who hasn’t hit above 200 all year?
Ruiz has delivered big twice already, but we can’t use him, because Kike took Barnes spot on the roster.
And like Hawkeye said above, why is Kike getting at bats over Puig?
Sorry Kike didn’t earn the right to be on this roster!
… and Culberson and Barnes did?
Please!
That’s just silly!
Why does it seem that we always have to BLAME someone?
Win or lose – no excuses!
Hernandez or Culberson or Barnes? I like them all and I can argue why each should be on the roster, but I know that FAZ and Roberts have a lot more resources and info than me so I would be delusional to even presume I know better!
Mark
The point is that Ruiz has delivered twice, and because they put Kike, who is hitting much less then Culberson, on the roster, instead of Barnes, another catcher.
Mark
Your plain silly!
This isn’t about Cuberson and Barnes, this is about Kike hitting below 200 against both righties and lefties, and Ruiz, who hits lefties well, and has had some really big hits, in this post season!
Your argument, wouldn’t hold water!
Culberson hit .000 in the NLDS and he only had about 60 AB’s all year. Kike had a bad year, but he is a career .247 BA while CC is a career .234. For every argument you can make for Culberson or Barnes, I can make one for Kike. It’s a non-issue. Kike committed 1 error, not 6, and he did it by trying too hard.
I never like second guessing because second-guessers are NEVER wrong. Kike didn’t cost us anything! Focus on what is real!
Mark
Kike is not a better hitter then Ruiz!
Kike hit .307 in 2015.
The last time Ruiz hit .300 was 2012, but Ruiz is on the roster. What is your point?
Mark
I didn’t second guess!
I said that Kike shouldn’t take Barnes spot on the roster, the day I heard it.
It is much more important, to give Ruiz at bats, then Kike.
And that is why Barnes should have never been taken off the roster for Kike!
Ruiz has had two really big hits, in this post season already!
And Culberson is a better defensive infielder then Kike, and hitting 297 against lefties.
But this is about Ruiz, and there is no way Kike should be getting at bats, over Puig, or taking away at bats, from Ruiz.
MJ, that is delusional! Of course it holds water.
1. Kike can play every position but pitcher.
2. He has a better career average.
3. He can play CF.
4. He is high energy player.
5. Ask any GM if they had Culberson or Barnes if they would trade for Kike and they all would!
I have no problem with Kike over Culberson on the roster. However, he’s a dead fastball hitter. I would have gone Puig. Oh well, Kike will take Lesturd deep tomorrow night.
Hawkeye
This isn’t about Kike over Culberson!
Mark moved the argument there, because he couldn’t argue the true point!
This is about giving Ruiz more at bats to hit.
Kike took Barnes place on the roster.
And really Kike hasn’t even done better then Culberson this year either.
If Barnes was on this roster, Ruiz could have came up and hit, instead of Kike!
I still would have hit Puig in Reddick’spot no matter who was on the roster. Kike took Lester deep this year and I believe that’s why he is on the roster. The Dodgers chose an extra pitcher over a 3rd catcher.
Hawkeye
Do you really think Kike is going to get a fastball to hit?
He hasn’t hit all year, because he isn’t getting fastballs where he can hit them.
He still overs swings, and really doesn’t have good at bats!
He might walk once, then he is back to swinging hard again!
Now, if they had put Culberson or Barnes on the roster, I would have been fine with that too.
I’m not smarter, nor do I have the assets FAZ AND I DON’T PRETEND TO!
You are acting like you know more… if so, they should hire you immediately!
I’m done – this is pointless!
Peace, out!
I have a business meeting with a big Cubs fan tomorrow!
This could be fun…
Mark
I am frustrated because of these anouncers, and I am tired of them not playng the best players.
Disappointing.
They will go with Maeda tomorrow at Dodger Stadium as he hasn’t pitched well on the road of late.
Then we have Kershaw & Hill in Chicago.
Buzzzzkilllllllll $(*#)(*$%^&*(!!!!!!!!!!