Chicago Cubs: Giving the 2016 NLDS comeback another look

Chicago Cubs: Back-end starters dominated on the bump in Game 4

Game 4 began 5:40 PM San Francisco time and with John Lackey on the mound for the Cubs and former Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Matt Moore starting opposite him. Lackey came in with 23 postseason appearances under his belt and this would be his first postseason appearance as a Cub. Moore was making his first postseason start since 2013 when he was with the Rays.

Hope was pretty high for Lackey seeing as he not only had plenty of postseason experience, he had a history of success in October and pitched well in multiple World Series-clinching games in 2002 and 2013. That is the main reason they got him. Moore had a 4.08 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 in 12 starts since he had been dealt to the Giants.

After the Cubs went quietly against Moore in the first, Lackey was in early trouble when Denard Span hit a leadoff double and scored on a Buster Posey sac fly. The next few innings, Lackey was able to settle in and see old man David Ross hit a game-tying solo shot off more in top of the third. That was the Cubs’ first hit.

Then, things got ugly.

Chicago Cubs: Visions of Billy Goats and “BelEVEN” take hold

Lackey looked nice and settled in when the fourth inning came around. He began by striking out Brandon Crawford swinging on four pitches. Nice. Cub-killer Conor Gillaspie and Joe Panik both singled and Gregor Blanco walked and all of the sudden it was bases loaded and one out. Up came Moore…who pulled an 0-2 fastball into the hole to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.

The Giants lead would go to 3-1 with an RBI groundout by Span right afterwards. Lackey got the final out on a lineout off Brandon Belt‘s bat and the inning and his night ended. A 3-1 deficit would turn to a 3-2 deficit when Javier Baez got to third on an error and Ross knocked him in via sac fly…but things would only get worse in the bottom of the fifth when Gillaspie scored Hunter Pence on a single and Panik hit a sac fly. 5-2 Giants.

Moore made mincemeat of the Cubs batters as he cruised through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings giving up zero hits, one baserunner and striking out four. He would finish the night with a line of: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K.

Three outs separated the Giants from forcing a pivotal Game 5. Six years of even year magic squaring off against 108 years of “curses” and misery. Seemed like fate for the Giants to erase an 0-2 series deficit and the old Cubbies to lose again. According to Baseball-Reference, the Cubs chances of winning right when the top of the ninth started were less than three percent.

These were the 2016 Chicago Cubs, they were different.

Chicago Cubs deliver death to the Giants via one thousand cuts

Okay, so everyone knows this is where the Cubs comeback happens. However this is a lot to break down from a Giants perspective. Manager Bruce Bochy basically tried to use his entire struggling bullpen to get the final three outs.  As we look at the epic rally, we look at how the Giants tried to counter.

Kris Bryant facing Derek Law to lead off the inning singles to left center. (5-2 Giants)

Pitching change.

Anthony Rizzo facing Javier Lopez walks on six pitches, Bryant to second. (5-2 Giants)

Pitching change. 

Ben Zobrist facing Sergio Romo doubles to right, Bryant scores and Rizzo goes to third. (5-2 Giants)

Pitching change.

Willson Contreras facing Will Smith singles to center to score Rizzo and Zobrist to tie the game.

Jason Heyward facing Smith bunt ground out but reaches second on Crawford error. (5-5)

Pitching change. 

Javier Baez facing Hunter Strickland singles on an 0-2 pitch to center to score Heyward. (6-5 Cubs)

David Ross facing Strickland grounds into double play to end the inning.

Four pitching changes in one inning, with three of the five guys for the Giants facing just one batter. It took the fourth guy to even record an out. Four pitching changes to give up four runs. The Cubs dugout was going nuts when they tied and took the lead. But it was not over yet.

Chicago Cubs: Three outs to go – enter Chapman

Closer Aroldis Chapman entered to face the nine hitter, then the top of the order. The flame-throwing left-hander brought out the 100+ MPH heat and the Giants hitters had zero chance. One-two-three they went to clinch the game and series for the Cubs, here is how it went:

Gorkys Hernandez: 1-2 count struck out swinging on a 102 MPH fastball.

Dernard Span: 1-2 count struck out swinging on a 103 MPH fastball.

Brandon Belt: With a 96 percent chance to win the game, Chapman threw a 1-2 102 MPH fastball at the top of the zone and got the lefty to helplessly swing and miss.

Why break this down? This was arguably the most dominant and drama-free inning for Chapman in that postseason run. Only three balls outside the zone on 13 pitches throw with all strikeouts coming on 100+ MPH pitches. A celebration quickly formed on the mound after Belt struck out, and a trip to the NLCS was theirs.

2016 will be talked about forever among Cubs fans and the next generation of them. This is one moment that really should be talked about more. The odds were so against them going into the ninth inning and who the heck knows what happens in a Game 5.