The New York Mets completed their sweep of the Chicago Cubs with an 8-3 win in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago, earning a berth in the World Series for the first time since 2000.
Mets vs. Cubs NLCS Game 4 recap: 3 reasons New York swept into World Series
The Mets are in the World Series for the first time in 15 years and the fifth time as a franchise.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets put this one to bed early, building a 6-0 lead after an inning and a half. Lucas Duda, who was 3-for-24 (.125) with two walks and 13 strikeouts in eight postseason games this year coming into Game 4, hit a three-run home run in the first inning then added a two-run double in the second inning.
Duda, who also doubled in the ninth inning, tied a Mets franchise record with five RBI in a playoff game.
It was enough to chase Cubs starter Jason Hammel after just five outs.
Bartolo Colon wiggled out of an inherited-runner jam in the fifth inning, then pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings for the win. The 42-year-old this postseason has six strikeouts and one walk in 5⅓ innings innings, with a 3.38 ERA.
The only negative note for the Mets in Game 4 was that outfielder Yoenis Cespedes left the game in the middle of the second inning, up 6-0, with left shoulder soreness. The extent of the injury isn't yet known, but manager Terry Collins said on the TBS broadcast that Cespedes told team trainers that he couldn't lift his left arm.
The Cubs went out with a whimper, but their season on the whole was a smashing success. Chicago won 97 games in 2015, 24 more than last year, and dispatched rivals Pittsburgh in the NL Wild Card Game and St. Louis in the NLDS.
The Back to the Future II prophecy of a Cubs’ World Series win in 2015 did not come true, but the Cubs’ future remains bright with an impressive stable of young talent.
This is the fifth World Series appearance for the Mets, along with 1969, 1973, 1986 and 2000. They will open on the road either in Kansas City or Toronto on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with the entire World Series televised by FOX.
Three reasons the Mets are in the World Series
1. Murphy’s Law
Daniel Murphy had four hits on Wednesday, his white-hot bat continuing to fuel much of New York's postseason run. The left-handed free-agent-to-be set the major league record — one more than Carlos Beltran — with six consecutive postseason games with a home run.
That was more than enough to earn Murphy NLCS MVP honors.
In nine games this postseason, Murphy is 16-for-38 with seven home runs, two double, 11 runs scored and 11 RBI, hitting .421/.436/1.026.
Those home runs weren't hit off any slouches this October, either, with Murphy victimizing, in order, Clayton Kershaw (twice), Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks and Fernando Rodney.
2. Pitching, pitching, pitching
Steven Matz didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning on Wednesday night, and though he was pulled with two outs in the fifth inning he allowed just one run, continuing a stellar run by the Mets' quartet of young, flame-throwing starting pitchers.
No New York starter has allowed more than three runs in a start this postseason, and none allowed more than two runs in a start during the NLCS. Matz was the fourth wheel in a Mets rotation that through nine playoff games has a 2.65 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 18 walks in 54⅓ innings.
But it hasn't just been the starters who have shined for New York. Closer Jeurys Familia has been nigh unhittable as well. Familia retired all 16 batters he faced in the NLDS against the Dodgers, then saved the first three games of the NLCS without giving up a run. All in all this postseason, the right-hander has pitched 9⅔ scoreless innings with five saves, including three saves longer than one inning.
Jeurys Familia has tied a NLCS record with 3 saves. 2 relievers have recorded 4 saves in the ALCS. #MetsFacts pic.twitter.com/FSuZIxoF9m
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 21, 2015 3. Power aplenty
Murphy wasn't alone on offense for the Mets, who outscored the Cubs 21-8 in the NLCS. Curtis Granderson in the playoffs is 10-for-33 (.303) with four walks and four stolen bases, and David Wright hit .286/.444/.429 in the NLCS sweep.
The Mets scored in the first inning of every game in the series, and the Cubs never held a led at any point in the four-game NLCS.
Travis d'Arnaud is hitting just .206 (7-for-34) in the postseason but three of his hits were home runs, including following Duda's three-run shot in the first inning with a solo shot of his own.
The only other time #Mets hit back-to-back postseason homers was Strawberry and McReynolds in Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS against the Dodgers.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 22, 2015
In nine postseason games, the Mets have hit 14 home runs and have allowed six. They have a pennant to show for it.
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