It's over: Mets defeat Cubs 8-3, complete 4-game sweep in NLCS

[Unemperor Justinian]

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

The New York Mets put the Cubs on their heels with back-to-back homers by Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud in the first inning and a two-run double by Duda in the second, then delivered a knockout blow by series MVP Daniel Murphy in an 8-3 victory Wednesday night that completed a four-game sweep of the Cubs in the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field.

Cubs rookie Kris Bryant’s two-run homer against Tyler Clippard in the eighth gave a crowd of 42,227 something to cheer about, but it was nothing more than a parting gift for the Cubs faithful. Duda’s three-run blast to center field against right-hander Jason Hammel and his double to right-center against left-hander Travis Wood both came after two outs, dealing gut-wrenching blows to a crowd hoping to see the series extended for at least another day.

Duda had five RBI before Cubs cleanup man Anthony Rizzo’s first at-bat.

Murphy, capping a sensational series and adding to an historic postseason, raised a fist as he rounded first to celebrate his record of six straight playoff games with a home run. Murphy, who took Fernando Rodney deep, also doubled and singled twice. He took seven playoff homers, one shy of the major league record, into the World Series.

Read more: http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/1034810/cubs-lineup-game-4-nlcs

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If you're thinking this isn't really a news story, ask a member of Cubs Nation. I'm not a member, but my brother-in-law is, and he seemed downright suicidal when I spoke to him an hour ago.

[hotrod0808]

1. Yeah

as a lifelong fan, I can say this sucked. I know they weren't supposed to make it this far, and neither were The Mets, but it is a pretty bitter pill to swallow.

[longship]

2. Poor Cubbies. R&K nt

[Feeling the Bern]

3. Let's Go Mets! Been a Met fan since 1985 when I was six.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. I was a Mets fan for one year

1969, when Tom Seaver, Don Clendennon and Ron Swaboda helped lead them to a World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

I actually think I was a Mets fan just to get back at my grandfather (who was rooting for the Orioles) because he had rooted for the Tigers versus my Cardinals the year before.

It's also kind of interesting that 1969 featured New York-Baltimore matchups in both the World Series and the Superbowl, with Baltimore losing both times (I was rooting for the Baltimore Colts because I got a free Johnny Unitas action figure and a Colts helmet pencil sharpener as part of some promotion).

[Itchinjim]

4. Fuck the Mets.

[damnedifIknow]

5. Hey Chicago what do ya say

The Cubs are going to win someday.

They had a good year.

[bigwillq]

6. Good for the Mets (nt)

[catnhatnh]

7. Okay People

Back to the Present...

[geek tragedy]

8. this isn't really a case of a team being snakebit or cursed or unlucky

when it's a 4-0 sweep in games that aren't very close, it's just one team thoroughly outplaying the other

[ProfessorGAC]

9. The Mets Got Hot

The Cubs went into a funk. OK, the Mets pitchers are terrific, but they weren't like that every game all year. And, the Cubs won over 100 games. They couldn't have done that without hitting some really good pitchers.

Just one team playing much better than the other over this 5 day period. Not much anybody could do about that.

[geek tragedy]

10. that's how it is, part of the cubs' problem is that they make the postseason

so infrequently. It''s almost a crap shoot once teams get into the postseason. Great players get cold, other players become superhuman (Daniel Murphy the greatest postseason hitter ever?).

From the Cubs' perspective, there's not much they can do except try to keep the team at its current level or otherwise improve if possible. They went 7-0 against the Mets during the regular season, but the tables got turned when it really counted.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Exactly

They were not hot when the Mets were. The Mets are good. You can't be cold when another good team gets hot. Pretty helpless then.

[Yavin4]

11. Daniel Murphy. Explain his performance.

That's the beauty of baseball. All the metrics in the world cannot tell you how a guy is going to perform in the post-season. Over the course of his entire career, he's never had a run like this and probably will never be able to repeat it.

Every MLB player has the potential of being Babe Ruth over a few games.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Are You Agreeing Or Disagreeing?

I said the Cubs ran into a better team. What did i say that made that unclear?

[JackRiddler]

19. Jesus, obviously.

[StevieM]

13. The Cubs won 97 games this year. It was the Cardinals who won 100 games.

The Cubs were 52-47 in the first 99 games. In the final 63 games they were 45-18. That means that they won 5 out of every 7 games played. Over the course of a full season that would have given them a record of about 116-46.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. And?

The Mets played better. That's what i said.

[StevieM]

17. You seem irritated with me. I'm not sure why. I was just giving you a heads up

that you accidentally said that the Cubs had won over 100 games and they didn't.

I guess I also took the opportunity, when the subject came up, to pontificate about the Cubs strong finish, since I found it interesting to talk about.

I wasn't criticizing anything you said, I was just correcting a mistaken detail.

[Shankapotomus]

18. Sports and suicide

And yet the human obsession with artificial competitive activities lingers on.