Winds of change may be blowing in Dusty Baker’s favor

Dusty Baker was happy to get out of Chicago — windy, damp, moldy Chicago — with a win and a tied-up series against the Cubs — and having a chance to lead the Nationals to an elusive postseason triumph.

What could have been a dour, perhaps final return of the former Cubs manager to Wrigley Field worked out well for Baker when Stephen Strasburg got well and pitched beyond well to let Baker leave town victorious.

Baker, the Nats manager who has a storied history of Octobers filled with sad endings — one of them famously at the helm of the Cubs in 2003 — has believed with all his heart that a happy one is in store. It looked bleak when the Cubs took control of the series by scratching out a victory over the Nats in Game 3, despite a dominating performance by Max Scherzer.

But then things began to fall Baker’s way. A rainout on Tuesday allowed him to use Strasburg, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in the series, to even it up on full rest.

As of early Wednesday, the Nationals were going with Tanner Roark in Game 4, but some strong medicine and perhaps some strong Baker prayers made Strasburg well enough to pitch.

“The thing about baseball is that things are subject to change and maybe the rain helped him and helped us like I hoped that it would,’’ Baker said. “I said my prayers and said, ‘Hey, man, let the rain try to help us.’’

Baker’s man upstairs apparently answered.

“I talked to some Hawaiian buddies of mine and they were saying, ‘Hey, sometimes, that’s a blessing from the sky,’ ” Baker said of the rain. “They call it manna. I believe in that.’’

Tuesday’s rain turned into Wednesday’s mist, and a blessing from the wind blowing in strong over the left field wall was also welcomed. It knocked down Addison Russell’s would-be home run that would have put Strasburg in a 2-0 hole in the second inning. That would have changed the complexion of the game, series and season for Baker’s Nationals.

“Fortunately for us, the elements are on our side because Russell’s ball would have been way up in the stands and maybe even on the avenue,’’ Baker said. “That ball was blowing back in, because that ball was hit a ton. That was the best ball hit tonight.

“So you know, the elements are on our side tonight. I’ve played many games here, managed many games here, and everybody talks about how the ball flies here. But from the time I’ve been here, I know the stadium takes away more homers than it gives. And tonight, it gave us one.’’

The wind in right wasn’t enough to keep Michael Taylor’s bases loaded liner from landing in the basket in the eighth inning, giving the Nationals a 5-0 lead and effectively icing the game.

So now it’s on to Washington, where the Nationals need to win to stop the endless questions about their NLDS failures in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

“We have the mental toughness, we have the resiliency to succeed in the postseason,’’ insisted closer Sean Doolittle, who recorded the final three outs. “We saw that tonight. Stras stepped up, but we saw other guys step up in a big way. There were a lot of little things [to deal with in wet conditions] in the game. That was a really good team win.’’

Follow me on Twitter

@CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

RELATED STORIES:

Lester bullpen move falls short, could throw rotation plans in flux

Jake Arrieta counting on team to win Game 5, extend his time with Cubs