Cubs Game 4 Preview: Chicago Tries to Even NLCS vs. the Youngest Starting Pitcher in Postseason History

The postseason continues for the Chicago Cubs with the National League Championship Series. To advance, the North Siders defeated the San Francisco Giants in dramatic fashion to win the NL Division Series. Now, the Cubbies are facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-seven series. Here's your quick guide to what you need to know before the first pitch of Game 4 is thrown.

2016 NL Championship Series: Cubs vs. Dodgers

Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Check out the Game 3 recap.

GAME 4

First Pitch: 7:08 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19

Where: Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles

TV | Radio | Streaming: Fox Sports 1 | 670 the Score (WSCR-AM), ESPNRadio 1000 (WMVP-AM) | Fox Sports Go

Pitching Matchup: John Lester (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. Julio Urias (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Is That a Balk? In Game 4, all eyes will be on Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias. And not just because, at 20 years, 68 days, he'll be the youngest starting pitcher in MLB postseason history. Urias has a pickoff move that has many opponents crying balk, including Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who called it "balking 101." (Hey, we called dibs on using the "101" cliché for the postseason!)

According to the MLB rulebook, "If a left-handed or right-handed pitcher swings his free foot past the back edge of the pitcher’s rubber, he is required to pitch to the batter except to throw to second base on a pick-off play." If the pitcher doesn't do that, it's a balk.

Although the legality of Urias' move has been questioned all season, it received extra scrutiny during the NL Division Series when the rookie pitcher used it to throw out the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper to end the fifth inning of Game 5.

Did Urias balk? Watch this video clip from the game, and — as IBM's series of informative, baseball-themed commercials from the '80s used to demand — you make the call.

Cubs Postseason History 101: In this season's NLCS, Chicago went from not being shut out in a postseason game since Babe Ruth did it for the Boston Red Sox during the 1918 World Series to being blanked in back-to-back games. When it comes to consecutive-game shutouts in the postseason, though, the Cubs aren't just the victims of them, they've been responsible for them, too.

In Games 4 and 5 of the 1908 World Series, Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown and Orval Overall — their real names, bandwagon Cubs fan, look 'em up — combined to deliver arguably the team's two best postseason pitching performances, beating the Detroit Tigers 3-0 and 2-0, respectively. With those victories, Chicago won the series and became the first MLB team to capture consecutive World Series titles.

Around the Playoffs

Game 5, ALCS: Cleveland Indians 3, Toronto Blue Jays 0 (Indians win series, 4-1)

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Images via Patch archives

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