LOS ANGELES – After striking out in his first two at-bats, Anthony Rizzo was seeking a slump buster. He found one in teammate Matt Szczur’s bat.
Using the borrowed lumber, Rizzo homered and ended a postseason skid with three RBIs. The rest of the Chicago Cubs’ hitters broke out equally as big in routing the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Wednesday to even the NL Championship Series at 2-all.
“I know Szczur’s bat has a lot of hits in it,” Rizzo said. “I’ve done it a few times this year, just switching up the bat, switching up the mindset.”
Addison Russell’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run fourth that stopped Chicago’s 21-inning scoreless streak and ensured the NLCS will return to Wrigley Field for Game 6 on Saturday.
“It’s definitely a sigh of relief to have a big night,” Russell said.
Kenta Maeda is set to pitch for the Dodgers in Game 5 on Thursday against Jon Lester. Manager Dave Roberts said he will not start Clayton Kershaw on short rest after the Los Angeles ace threw a bullpen session Wednesday.
“It’s not an elimination game,” Roberts said.
Following consecutive shutout losses, the Cubs rapped out 13 hits on an 80-degree night with the warm Santa Ana winds fluttering the flags in center field.
Rizzo used Szczur’s bat on Tuesday night and got a broken-bat single. Szczur, left off the NLCS roster, didn’t mind. He wrapped another one for Game 4, figuring Rizzo might want to use the bat that is the same weight and size but a different model than his.
“I just saw him walking up with my bat, and I started laughing,” Szczur said. “And then he hits a homer with it.”
Rizzo and Russell had three hits each. Chicago’s 3-4-5 hitters – a combined 2 for 32 in the first three games – busted out. Every Cubs starter got at least one hit except Kris Bryant, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch.
“It’s contagious, just like the lack of it is contagious,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “When you start hitting, it’s contagious, defense, this whole game really follows itself.”