The Chicago Cubs clinched a post-season series at Wrigley Field for the first time ever, as Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez hit home runs in a 6-4 win over the St Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, winning the National League Division Series 3-1.
Cubs closer Hector Rondon struck out Stephen Piscotty on a pitch in the dirt, and catcher Miguel Montero scooped the ball and made the tag to end the game.
That sent the players streaming out of the dugout and prompted a wild celebration among Cubs fans.
Photo: USA Today
“They deserve it,” Rizzo said in the middle of the party. “Hopefully, this is just a taste of what is to come.”
The Cubs are headed to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2003, when they lost in seven games to the Florida Marlins.
Chicago are to face the winners of the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets matchup.
That series is locked 2-2 after the Dodgers won 3-1 at Citi Field on Tuesday, sending the series back to Los Angeles for a decisive Game 5 today.
Rizzo’s solo drive to right off losing pitcher Kevin Siegrist in the sixth put Chicago back on top 5-4 after St Louis had scored two in the top half of the inning.
Schwarber’s monstrous shot leading off the seventh gave the Cubs a two-run lead and ended the scoring.
The ball landed on top of the right-field video board.
The late drives by Rizzo and Schwarber, along with Baez’s three-run homer off John Lackey in the second, came after Chicago set a post-season record with six homers in Monday’s win.
The Cubs won for the 12th time in 13 games despite starter Jason Hammel being removed in just the fourth inning, having given up two runs.
Seven relievers combined to hold the Cardinals to two more runs the rest of the way.
Hammel settled down after giving up a two-run homer to Piscotty on the game’s fourth pitch.
He also singled in a run with two out in the second before Baez connected against John Lackey to make it 4-2.
The Cardinals failed to advance in the postseason after winning at least one series the previous four years.
Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw limited the Mets to one run over his seven innings, and also contributing a key hit.
Kershaw’s one-out single led to a three-run third inning. Adrian Gonzalez followed with an RBI single, and Justin Turner added a two-run double.
Kershaw, the reigning NL MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner, snapped his incongruous five-start losing streak in playoff games; the longest in Dodgers history.
He struck out eight, walked one and yielded only three hits, quieting another revved-up crowd at Citi Field as the night wore on.
Daniel Murphy hit his second solo homer off Kershaw in the series, both coming in the fourth inning.
Kenley Jansen got four outs for his second save. With two New York runners on base in the eighth and the count full, he retired Murphy on a fly to right field, which brought the inning to an end.
Jansen then worked a 1-2-3 ninth, with the Dodgers ending a seven-game losing streak in road playoff games.
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