BATS FALL SILENT STORM
Schwarber hits HR, but Mets’ Harvey tames potent offense
NEW YORK — The Cubs are going to have to do it the hard way again to advance.
As the temperatures dropped, Matt Harvey turned up the heat to lead the Mets to a 4-2 victory Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Whether it was more Harvey’s power pitching or the frigid temperatures, the Cubs’ homer-happy bats were a lot more quiet than they were against the Cardinals.
And $155 million playoff veteran Jon Lester had trouble keeping pace, allowing a pair of homers and four runs in 6⅔ innings.
After hitting 12 homers in their first five playoff games against Pittsburgh and St. Louis, the Cubs managed one — by rookie Kyle Schwarber — on a night the temperature started in the upper 40s and dropped throughout the game. It was so cold, right-fielder Jorge Soler, shortstop Javy Baez and second baseman Starlin Castro all wore blue ski masks in the field.
The Mets’ rotation of hardthrowing first- and second-year pitchers already has cooled NL bats much of the season.
Harvey pitched two outs deep into the eighth inning until Schwarber hit his 97th pitch about halfway to LaGuardia Airport.
That cut the lead to two and tied Schwarber with the Mets’ Daniel Murphy for most home runs this postseason with four (Murphy hit one off Lester in the first).
Schwarber also tied the Cubs’ postseason record with a homer in three consecutive games (Alex Gonzalez, 2003).
But that was as hot and exciting as it got for the Cubs against the hard-throwing Harvey in the first of a four-kid gauntlet that con- tinues with rookie Noah Syndergaard on tap for Sunday against Jake Arrieta.
Billed as a battle of the Mets’