Blue Jays Battle Back

These are the tell-tale signs that Chicago Cubs’ fans look for, the omens, the foreboding notes of impending doom.

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 6-0 on Tuesday night – their second straight shutout – to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. That’s bad enough.

But with the Dodgers’ pitching stretched thin, the club turned to Rich Hill – a former Cub – and he delivered six strong innings, striking out six. His Cubs counterpart, Jake Arrieta, who threw his first career no-hitter at Dodger Stadium in 2015, gave up a pair of home runs.

The Cubs and Dodgers go at it again on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET) and Thursday night in L.A. It’s conceivable that the patrons of Wrigley Field won’t even get to see their beloved team collapse in person. They’ve seen the meltdowns before. Maybe it’s better this way, though the Cubs surely are good enough to bounce back.

In the American League, the Cleveland Indians could not complete their sweep of the Blue Jays. Aaron Sanchez pitched the first six innings of an eventual two-hitter for the Jays, who took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Josh Donaldson’s home run and stretched the margin to 4-1 in the seventh when Edwin Encarnacion singled in two runs.

The Indians lead the series 3-1, with Game 5 on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman