Willson Contreras, the second batter of the second inning, hit the Cubs’ fourth home run of the series. Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal asked for a fastball away to Contreras, which it wasn’t, and on contact Wood recoiled at his mistake. Dodgers left fielder Andre Ethier hardly moved, other than to turn to see just how far the ball would travel. It struck the scoreboard that hangs over the left-field bleachers, turned out, which is a very long way from home plate. The estimated distance was 491 feet.
In a quirky inning in which he struck out every other batter, starting with Anthony Rizzo, Wood also allowed a home run to Baez, who on his way to 0 for 20 also had struck out eight times. Wood’s curveball was low, but Baez tracked it, pulled it down the left-field line and into the street.
The Cubs had scored first in each of the series’ first three games, and so in all four of them. They, of course, held none of those first three leads. And Arrieta responded to the offensive outburst by hanging a slider to Cody Bellinger in the third inning. Bellinger lined it to right field for a home run.
Baez homered again in the fifth inning, this on a curveball that arrived beneath the zone. Baez attacked it, and it soared low and hard into the bleachers.
