Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
For the first time since 2000 – and only the fifth time in franchise history – the Mets punched their ticket to the Fall Classic on Wednesday, with an 8-3 walloping of the Cubs in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
With that, Murphy also broke the record for consecutive postseason games with a home run, having hit homers in six straight playoff games.
“I really can’t explain it”, he said after the game when asked the secret to his success. Our bullpen’s well rested so we certainly have enough arms to keep us in the game.
Mets fans have been through a lot since the team’s last trip to the World Series – from the 2007 collapse to the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme to countless #LOLMets moments – but in this playoff run, and in this NLCS especially, their team has coolly marched on. He would have been 53 times more likely to be struck by lightning in his lifetime.
Add Mets manager Terry Collins to the list of those left wondering how this sudden power surge from the second baseman emerged. “Murphy is on a different planet right now”. He really is. The last at-bat, he’s looking for a changeup, and he hits a 97-mph fastball out. That’s where he’s at right now. Murphy also joined Lou Gehrig as the only players with seven straight postseason games with a hit, a run and an RBI. Lucas Duda launched a three-run home run and Travis d’Arnaud followed with a solo shot in the top of the first to give the Mets an early 4-0 lead. “We’ve been through a few bad times”.
All three of his hits were singles, and the only run he had knocked in came on a groundout.
The Mets are hoping for a quick bounce back for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who exited Game 4 of the NLCS with a sore left shoulder. When your slugging first baseman is just trying to beat the shift to get himself on when the go-ahead run is already standing on first base, you know he’s not exactly abounding in confidence in his own abilities.
The team as a whole hit. The 244 during the regular season, putting the chances they would go 35 for 130 (.244) or better in the NLCS at 28.1 percent.
Arrieta and Lester lost the first two games of the NCLS, too, and the Cubs fared no better sending Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel out, either.
Faced with excellent young Mets pitching, the Cubs hitters weren’t almost as electric as they were in the NL Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. And he has at least another four games coming up in the World Series.
“It’s all part of the evolution”, Radatz said, noting that both the Royals and Blue Jays both have league alums on their rosters. Neither stands out as a particularly more favorable opponent.
