Artless Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — One sequence cannot do this game justice, not during a 10-2 defeat Wednesday to the Chicago Cubs when the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup hibernated, the pitchers quivered and the defense self-destructed. But one moment will stand out, well after the outcome was decided, well after it became clear that the National League Championship Series will return to Chicago this weekend.

In the sixth inning of Game 4, with the bases loaded with Cubs and the Dodgers already down six runs, Joc Pederson launched himself across the outfield grass to snag a sinking line drive. He rose up and decided not to concede a sacrifice fly. What followed transformed this game from a rout into a farce.

Pederson spiked the throw in the infield. The ball bounced past catcher Yasmani Grandal. Sliding into the backstop, reliever Luis Avilan corralled the baseball — only to uncork a wild throw that skewed past Grandal at the plate. A 10th run scored for Chicago, the fifth in the inning. Pederson was charged with the Dodgers’ fourth error of the game.

It was an uncharacteristic evening for these Dodgers, who entered the night capable of pushing their opponents to the brink. Instead, they fumbled the baseball in the field and ran into outs on the bases. A legitimate gripe about a second-inning replay challenge cannot overshadow an evening-long pounding.

Blanked in the previous two games, the Cubs roared back to eject 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias from the game in the fourth inning. He held his opponents at bay until his final frame, when he served up a two-run homer to shortstop Addison Russell.

Few pitchers possess more postseason experience than Cubs starter John Lackey, the salty Texan who started Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels four days after his 24th birthday. On Wednesday, he made his 22nd playoff start. Urias was pitching in the 20th game of his big league career.

The difference in experience was obvious. The difference in temperament would soon become clear.

When Cubs second baseman Javier Baez failed to turn a double play in the first inning, Lackey stamped his feet and swore. When Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley dropped a throw in the second inning, Urias did not react. He returned to the mound and listened to counsel from Utley.

The error by Utley placed Urias in danger. There were two men aboard with one out. Urias needed to pacify the two weakest hitters in Chicago’s lineup, outfielder Jason Heyward and Russell. Urias struck out Heyward, who batted .071 during the final month of the season against left-handed pitchers. Then he watched as Russell, who entered the game with one hit this postseason, flied out to the warning track in left.

The Dodgers developed a grievance in the bottom of the inning. A single by Adrian Gonzalez and a walk by Grandal set the table for rookie Andrew Toles. He punched a single into right field. With Urias due up next, third-base coach Chris Woodward rolled the dice. He sent home Gonzalez, a laborious runner, and challenged the strong arm of Heyward.

The throw reached catcher Willson Contreras before Gonzalez reached the plate. Contreras spun into position as Gonzalez dove. Gonzalez stretched his left arm to the lip of the plate, and appeared to beat the tag. Umpire Angel Hernandez saw differently, and clenched his fist.

Gonzalez ignored the out signal and implored the Dodgers to challenge the call. He accepted congratulations from his teammates in the dugout. He hung over the railing, chatting with the TV crew as the umpires connected with the replay crew in Manhattan.

“What do you got?” Gonzalez said. “Safe, right? Let’s go, don’t mess it up, New York.”

Gonzalez turned to the umpires.

“Hey, TV’s got safe! Fox has safe!”

As crew chief Gary Cederstrom plugged a pair of headphones over his ears, the crowd made its verdict clear. A chant of “Safe! Safe! Safe!” rained down from the third deck. Officials in New York took two minutes and 51 seconds to determine the evidence was inconclusive. The call stood.

Urias blinked in the fourth. Ben Zobrist became the first Cub to secure a hit when he dropped a leadoff bunt single. Baez poked a changeup for another single. The Cubs grabbed the lead when Contreras singled into left field. Toles had a chance to nab Zobrist at the plate, but his throw soared wide of Grandal, and both runners moved into scoring position.

The dam broke soon after. Heyward drove in Baez with a groundout. Russell hit a waist-high fastball for a two-run homer. Urias exited one batter later. The Cubs picked up a fifth run when first baseman Anthony Rizzo crushed a solo homer off Pedro Baez in the fifth.

The Dodgers staged a rally in the bottom of the inning. A pair of walks removed Lackey from the game. A single by pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick loaded the bases. Two runs scored when Turner hit a single that deflected off reliever Mike Montgomery’s glove and into the outfield.

But the offense sputtered. Gonzalez grounded out. Manager Dave Roberts sent Enrique Hernandez to hit for Josh Reddick against Montgomery, a left-handed pitcher. Hernandez chopped a harmless grounder to the shortstop.

The fight was snuffed out of the Dodgers in the sixth. A wild throw by Hernandez gave Russell an extra base after an infield single. Montgomery managed a single off reliever Ross Stripling. Dexter Fowler drove in a run with a single. Rizzo brought two more home with another. Then Javier Baez sent a ball into Pederson’s direction, igniting the sequence that defined this blowout.