The ball was tossed into the Braves dugout on the first-base

SAN FRANCISCO -- Kris Bryant tossed his glove high in the air, Jake Arrieta jumped over the dugout railing and the rest of the Chicago Cubs rushed to join the celebration.Pure revelry and a sigh of relief, all at once.World Series favorites since Opening Day, the Cubs took another step in their championship chase Tuesday night by rallying for four runs in the ninth inning of Game 4 to beat the?San Francisco Giants?6-5 and win their National League Division Series.You could see it coming. You could see little signs. Weve done it before, and the guys, we dont quit, Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler said. Its a little more special doing it here. They for sure were thinking that they won it. But we play 27 outs and we dont give up until we win.Javier Baezs tiebreaking single capped the comeback against a beleaguered bullpen that sabotaged the Giants one last time.Four wins from their first pennant since 1945, the Cubs will open the NL Championship Series on Saturday at Wrigley Field against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals. That matchup is tied 2-all heading into the deciding Game 5 on Thursday.Before that, the team with the best regular-season record (103-58) in the majors this year will get a few days of rest. Chicago was swept by the New York Mets in the NLCS last year and is still seeking its first World Series title since 1908.Expectations is a good word. Because normally it means that you have something good attached to it at the other side, manager Joe Maddon said.And after finishing off the resilient Giants, the Cubs should have their rotation all lined up for the NLCS.Pressure, expectations -- I want our guys to thrive on those two words for the years to come. I want the organization to. In the end, that means theres a lot expected of you. Good. There should be. We should all have a lot expected of us, Maddon added. So all those things I want to have us channel in a positive direction.Held to two hits over eight innings by Matt Moore, the Cubs trailed 5-2 heading to the ninth.No matter. One big rally ended San Franciscos 10-game winning streak when facing postseason elimination.Pinch hitter Willson Contreras tied it with a two-run single with none out. Baez singled in the go-ahead run two batters later, and the Cubs capitalized on Gold Glove shortstop Brandon Crawfords second costly error and more untimely blunders by the Giants once-reliable relief staff.One day after getting tagged in the eighth inning, Aroldis Chapman closed this one out by striking out the side in order. When he set down Brandon Belt to end it, Chapmans teammates rushed to the mound to hug him and begin their celebration.Maddon has his confident, power-hitting Cubs on an October roll. They already beat All-Star Johnny Cueto and ex-Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija, then waited until Moores stellar outing was done to pounce.With this team, the big thing is we never give up, we never quit, said lefty Jon Lester, who figures to start the NLCS opener. We always feel like we have a chance, whether its the first inning or the ninth inning.Soon-to-retire David Ross homered to start the third, hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and threw out Denard Span trying to steal.Downright unflappable for years in these pressure-packed situations, the Giants won World Series championships in 2010, 12 and 14. This was the clubs first postseason series defeat in the past 12.We dont think were going to win the World Series every even year. I mean, it took 50-something years to get one here, quipped manager Bruce Bochy, whose bullpen management was scrutinized throughout a disappointing second half.The orange towel-waving sellout crowd of 43,166, perhaps spoiled this decade by the every-other-year title success, had been counting on a few more games by the bay this October.Moore, acquired from Tampa Bay at the Aug. 1 trade deadline for games of this magnitude, struck out 10 as his former Rays manager -- Maddon -- watched from the other dugout.Long after Cubs starter John Lackeys night was done with just four innings, Hector Rondon pitched the eighth for the win.WHAT CURSE?Lester doesnt buy all the superstition surrounding Chicagos championship drought.Nobody really cares in there about a curse or a goat or anything else, he said. If we make a mistake, were not going to blame it on a curse or anything else like that. Were going to blame it on ourselves and be accountable for it and move on to the next play or the next moment. ... Weve got too many young guys in there that dont even know what that stuff is, you know what I mean? So, its almost better to play naive and just go out and worry about us, worry about the Cubs and not anything else in the past or, like I said, any animals.POWER PITCHERSTwo pitchers homered for the Cubs in the series: Arrieta on Monday and reliever Travis Wood in Game 2. The 1924 New York Giants were the only other team to have two pitchers go deep in a postseason series, according to ESPN Stats & Info.Thats pretty incredible, isnt it? Maddon said.GIANTS INJURIESLeft fielder Angel Pagan missed his second straight start with back spasms, and third baseman Eduardo Nunezs strained right hamstring is still slow to heal, leaving the Giants to contemplate replacing one on the roster. But no move was made before the game.CRAWFORDS MISCUESThe shortstop was the first Giants player to commit two errors in a postseason game since Don Mueller on Sept. 29, 1954, in Game 1 of the World Series. Mousa Dembele Jersey . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Yannick Carrasco Jersey . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/Thibaut-Courtois-UEFA-European-Belgium-Jersey/ .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Thomas Vermaelen Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Youri Tielemans Jersey . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. ATLANTA -- Joel De La Cruz felt like he belonged as he made his major league debut for Atlanta.That was because he had been in the majors before, though only as an observer.De La Cruz allowed three runs in six innings as the Braves fell to the streaking Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Wednesday night.De La Cruz (0-1) was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game. He didnt appear in a game in his earlier short stints in Atlanta in April and May.Even though I havent had the experience the previous times Ive been called up, I had the confidence from being called up multiple times so I knew that they believed in me, De La Cruz, from the Dominican Republic, said through a translator. That helped.The Braves signed De La Cruz, 27, as a minor league free agent after he played in the Yankees organization in 2015.Danny Salazar threw seven innings and Lonnie Chisenhall hit his second homer of the series as Cleveland stretched the majors longest winning streak this season to 12 games.Cleveland swept its fourth straight series.Salazar (10-3) allowed five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. He lowered the ALs second-best ERA to 2.22.Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said Salazar was Just like advertised. He was real tough.Jason Kipnis broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single off De La Cruz in the fifth.Snitker said De La Cruz was even better than he remembered from their time together at Triple-A and likely will stick in the rotation for another start.He was aggressive, used his sinker, Snitker said. I thought he was really good.Indians closer Cody Allen gave up a leadoff single to Nick Markakis in the ninth and walked Erick Aybar with two outs. Allen ended the game on Emilio Bonifacios grounder to second for his 16th save.Atlantas Jace Peterson had two doubles to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games.Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte made a leaping catch of Mike Napolis drive at the wall in the seventh.BLAME THE BATRight--hander Brian Shaw struck out Freddie Freeman to close the eighth with runners on first and second.dddddddddddd It was the third strikeout of the game for Freeman, who shattered his bat as he slammed it to the ground in frustration. Freeman also bounced his helmet off ground.Braves batters were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, continuing their season-long struggles.SOUVENIRDe La Cruz singled in his first at-bat in the third inning for his first major league hit. The ball was tossed into the Braves dugout on the first-base line to be saved. With De La Cruz standing nearby on first base, a laughing Aybar pretended to throw the ball over the dugout roof into the stands.INTRODUCTIONSThe Indians first glimpse of De La Cruz came a day before the game. Manager Terry Francona said he saw the right-hander after De La Cruz, carrying Braves luggage, checked in at the Indians hotel on Wednesday night.Asked if he knew anything about De La Cruz, Francona said Well, I rode the elevator with him last night. I was going to my room and I saw this kid with a bag. I said, `You must be De La Cruz. He laughed. We havent seen him pitch. But Ive shaken his hand.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: C Roberto Perez (broken right thumb) is moving closer to game action. Francona said Perez might play as a DH in a minor league rehab game as soon as this weekend. Perez required surgery and has been out since May 1.UP NEXTIndians: RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 2.73) will make his 10th start of the season as Cleveland opens a series at Toronto on Thursday night.Braves: RHP Mike Foltynewicz (sore right elbow) will come off the 15-day DL to start in Thursday nights series opener against Miami instead of making a second rehab start with Triple-A Gwinnett. RHP Julio Teherans scheduled start was pushed back one day to Friday to give him extra days rest. ' ' '