DYK: Facts and figures from NLCS Game 4
After four games, the National League Championship Series is all square. The Cubs and Dodgers have each won once at home and once on the road, splitting the first two games of the series at Wrigley Field and now the latest two at Dodger Stadium.The Cubs routed the Dodgers in
After four games, the National League Championship Series is all square. The Cubs and Dodgers have each won once at home and once on the road, splitting the first two games of the series at Wrigley Field and now the latest two at Dodger Stadium.
The Cubs routed the Dodgers in a 10-2 win in Game 4 on Wednesday to even the series and guarantee that the NLCS will end in their home ballpark, with a trip to the World Series on the line.
• NLCS Game 5: Today at 8 p.m. ET on FS1
Game 5 -- the final game at Chavez Ravine before the series returns to Wrigley Field for Game 6 and a potential Game 7 -- will be pivotal. But before the teams move on to the next game, as the American League champion Indians await the winner, here are the key facts and figures from Game 4 of the NLCS.
:: NLCS: Dodgers vs. Cubs coverage ::
• With the Cubs and Dodgers tied at two games apiece, Game 5 has the potential to swing the series. In best-of-seven LCS that have been tied 2-2, the team that wins Game 5 has gone on to win the series 12 of 15 times. In those situations, teams are 7-2 in the series when winning Game 5 at home, and 5-1 when winning on the road.
• The Cubs have been tied 2-2 in an NL Championship Series only once before -- in 1984, when the series was a best-of-five. Chicago had a 2-0 lead in that series before losing the final three games to San Diego.
The Dodgers have been tied 2-2 in an NLCS twice, in 1981 and '85. In '81, Los Angeles went on to win the series over the Montreal Expos. In '85, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers to advance to the World Series.
• The Cubs had scored 10 runs on the road in a postseason game only once before in franchise history. That was in 1908, in Game 1 of the last World Series they won.
• The Cubs, who were shut out in Games 2 and 3, snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak -- the longest in the club's postseason history -- when
• Cubs strike first, snap 21-inning drought
• When
• The age gap between Urias and the Cubs'
• This was the 22nd postseason start of Lackey's career, tying him with Whitey Ford for sixth on the all-time list. Andy Pettitte holds the record (44).
• When
• Russell also is the sixth-youngest shortstop to homer in the postseason, just behind the Dodgers'
• Russell's homer was the first that Urias had allowed at Dodger Stadium in his young career. He faced 167 batters at home during the regular season without surrendering a homer.
• Russell and
• Rizzo homered on a 98.9-mph fastball from Dodgers reliever
• Contreras was called for catcher's interference, allowing
• Contreras also made a couple of nice defensive plays, though, including a pickoff of
• Turner accounted for the Dodgers' only two runs with a fluky fifth-inning single that deflected off pitcher
• The Dodgers committed four errors in their Game 4 loss, the first time they had done so in a playoff game since Game 3 of the 1974 NLCS. Wednesday marked their fifth postseason game with at least four errors in franchise history.
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David Adler is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York. Follow him on Twitter at @_dadler.
Andrew Simon is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewSimonMLB.