The Cubs aren't dead yet.
Once again, this team has proved they play their best when they're forced to with backs against the wall.
The Cubs finally showed some urgency for the first time in the NLCS, continuing to pile on and smashing the narrative that scoring first on an early home run is not a good move.
The door won't shut on this 2017 season for at least another day, thanks in large part to this guy:
Farewell, Jake
MLB
Making what is almost assuredly his last start in a Cubs uniform and at Wrigley Field, Jake Arrieta was masterful, navigating a relentless Dodgers lineup and giving the Cubs a much-needed deep outing, tossing 6.2 innings.
He struck out 9, working around 5 walks and 3 hits while throwing 111 pitches, his most since May 21 against Milwaukee.
And how's this for justice? Arrieta tied the Cubs all-time postseason record with his fifth playoff victory Wednesday night.
Arrieta had his ups and downs Wednesday night, but he did plenty to remind Cubs fans of all he's done in blue pinstripes the last five seasons.
I mean, just look at the movement on some of these pitches:
A hat-tip to Arrieta for a brilliant Cubs career:
Grandpa Rossy = Bill Murray?
David Ross went full Bill Murray Wednesday night, hyping up the crowd just by his mere presence. In the first few innings of NLCS Game 4, these were the biggest cheers from the 42,195 in attendance at Wrigley Field:
1. Willson Contreras HR off the video board
2. Javy Baez HR to the left of video board
3. David Ross shown on video board
Ross was hanging around the Cubs before the game, visiting with old teammates and chatting for a few mins with "son" Anthony Rizzo during batting practice.
The Cubs finally looked like the team that displayed legendary resiliency from last fall with Grandpa Rossy in attendance. Don't even try to act like there's no concidence there.
Javy Time
Baez was 0-for-20 this postseason entering Wednesday night and that number bumps up to 0-for-23 when taking into account last fall, too.
So naturally, he hits two bombs and shows everybody why Joe Maddon keeps writing his name in the lineup.
Let's tell the story of Javy's night in GIFs:
Ball don't lie
Joe Maddon wasn't f-in around. He brought in Wade Davis in the eighth inning against the heart of the Dodgers order and of course, this game couldn't end without controversy and some edge-of-your-seat thrills.
A few batters after yet another Justin Turner homer, Davis appeared to have struck out Curtis Granderson on a pitch in the dirt. But after a conference by the umpires, they ruled it a foul ball, despite what seemed like pretty clear evidence on replay that Granderson did not make contact with the ball.
Joe Maddon erupted, leading to a lengthy argument that resulted in his removal from the game.
After nearly 10 minutes without throwing a pitch, Davis roared back and struck out Granderson anyway.
After throwing 34 pitches in the eighth, Davis came back out firing in the ninth to shut the door for a six-out save.
Power plays
Willson Contreras hit a ball 491 feet, nearly taking his own face out on the left field video board.
It was the first Cubs run of the game, giving them the lead for the fourth time in the series off a longball. The other three times in the NLCS all resulted in Cubs losses, but this time, however, they crushed the narrative with one blast after another into the wind blowing out to dead left field.
The Dodgers responded with their own homers - first by Cody Bellinger in the second inning and then by Turner (also off the scoreboard) in the eighth.
The first five runs in the game were all scored on solo homers.