Cubs Vs. Dodgers: When And How To Watch Game 4, 2017 NL Championship Series

It's October, and the Chicago Cubs get to do something they haven't done in more than a century: defend a World Series title. After a tight series against the Washington Nationals, the North Siders now challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series for the second consecutive year. The best-of-seven series began Saturday, Oct. 14.

Can the Cubs make it back to the World Series this season? Will the 2017 postseason join last year as part of a Chicago dynasty of multiple championships? Patch gets you ready for each playoff game with all the info you need to know before you enjoy the action on the field.

Also, check out the tentative postseason schedule for the Cubs if they advance to the World Series. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Lake View and Chicago — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

2017 NL Championship Series

Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series, 3-0

GAME 4

First Pitch: 8:08 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18

Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago

TV | Radio | Streaming: TBS | 670 the Score (WSCR-AM), ESPNRadio 1000 (WMVP-AM) | MLB.com

Pitching Matchup: Jake Arrieta (0-1; 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 K) vs. Alex Wood (16-3; 2.72 ERA; first appearance in the postseason)

Previous NLCS Game Results

GAME 1

Cubs 2, Dodgers 5

W: Kenta Maeda (1-0; 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB) | L: Hector Rendon (0-1; 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB) | S: Kenley Jansen (1; 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB)

GAME 2

Cubs 1, Dodgers 2

W: Kenley Jansen (1-0; 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) | L: Brian Duensing(0-1; 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

GAME 3

Cubs 1, Dodgers 6

W: Yu Darvish (1-0; 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB) | L: Kyle Hendricks (0-1; 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB)

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Going into Wednesday's Game 4, the Cubs are back in familiar territory, facing elimination in a postseason series. And while it might be nerve-wracking for fans, that position has paid off big for Chicago recently. The Cubs are coming off a best-of-five NL Division Series that was pushed to a decisive Game 5, and last year, they were 3-0 in win-or-go-home games, all played after going down 3-1 against the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.

But manager Joe Maddon knows it won't be easy.

"I've got the little wristband on, we never quit," he said after the Game 3 loss. "Something we've talked about the last three years. Not easy. Obviously. It's been done before. Theo [Epstein, Cubs president of baseball operations] saw it. So we have to figure out a way."

When Maddon says it's been done before he's talking about the epic comeback by the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship. Epstein was the Red Sox general manager during that season in which the team won a World Series title after an 86-year drought.

Offensive Drought

What's Maddon's game plan going into Game 4?

"A lot of it is contingent upon Jake [Arrieta, the starting pitcher Wednesday]," he said. "Jake being able to pitch more deeply into the game is going to be very important for us [Wednesday], I believe. Grabbing a lead and just hitting their pitchers finally. They've pretty much stifled us."

"Stifled" is probably an understatement. The Cubs scored a run and three hits in the first inning of Game 3. That's as many runs and hits Chicago had in the series up until that point.

"I Trust Our Guys"

As they get ready for Game 4, Cubs players probably aren't expecting a rousing "Win One for the Gipper" speech from Maddon. He said he'd like to stick to his "normal patterns" during a season, which include only holding team meetings during spring training, at the All-Star break and before the first postseason game.

"There is nothing inspirational I could possibly say that's going to make a difference," Maddon said. "We've just got to go out and play our normal game [Wednesday]."

In fact, the lack of a stirring motivational speech might just be a sign that the manager trusts his team can keep battling in the series.

"I'm not going to sit here and throw a lot of hyperbole your way. It's just about our guys," Maddon said. "You have to — your back's absolutely against the wall. Tomorrow is a Game 7. We have three or four Game 7s in a row coming up right now. So it's just about, you know, we've got to counter punch it at some point, and that's absolutely necessary [Wednesday]. We need to gain some kind of mental momentum, and obviously that's our last chance to do it [Wednesday].

"So I've talked about trusting our guys. I trust our guys. It's been an unusual route to get here right now also. So stay with it, don't come out of your normal patterns and play hopefully the kind of game we can tomorrow."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon (left) and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. (Maddon photo by Jamie Squire | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images; Roberts photo by Jonathan Daniel | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images)

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