Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cubs pound Cards
CHICAGO — The young sluggers of the Chicago Cubs are making themselves at home in the playoffs.
On a rare off night for Jake Arrieta, three rookies help the Cubs bash their way to the brink of the NL Championship Series — and into the record book.
Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber connected as the Cubs set a postseason mark with six home runs in beating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-6 Monday for a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
Arrieta struck out nine before departing in the sixth inning, and the bullpen finished the job in the first playoff game at Wrigley Field in seven years.
“To see the ball fly out of the yard as many times as it did was incredible,” Arrieta said.
The Cubs held a share of the previous postseason home-run record, hitting five in Game 1 of the 1984 NLCS against San Diego.
The Cubs need a victory Tuesday afternoon to advance to the NLCS for the first time in 12 years. The Cardinals, who led the majors with 100 victory this season, have won at least one playoff series in each of the past four years.
Jason Hammel (10-7 during the regular season) will start for the Cubs. John Lackey, who won the opener last Friday, pitches for the Cardinals on three days rest.
Lackey threw 86 pitches in the start, which resulted in a 4-0 St. Louis victory, but said he is not concerned about the physical aspect of pitching on three days’ rest.
“Pitch counts are out the window this time of year,” Lackey said. “It’s just compete and win a game.”
It is unclear whether the Cardinals will have catcher Yadier Molina, who is playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb and left Monday’s game in the sixth inning.
Jason Heyward and Stephen Piscotty hit home runs for St. Louis, which got to Arrieta for four runs in his least effective start in four months. But the Cardinals were unable to keep the Cubs in the ballpark. “These guys will make you pay in this park when the wind was doing what it was doing,” Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said.
St. Louis trailed 8-4 before
Piscotty hit a two-run shot with two out in the ninth, briefly quieting a towel-waving crowd of 42,411 accustomed to playoff heartache. But Hector Rondon retired Matt Holliday on a bouncer to second, and the party was on.
Arrieta improved to 18-1 with a 1.00 ERA in his last 22 starts dating to June 21, but he wasn’t the dominant pitcher he has has been during that span. He hadn’t allowed more than three runs in a game since a June 16 loss to Cleveland. It didn’t matter to his teammates.
“Today we got his back — just like he always got our backs,” said second baseman Starlin Castro,
Schwarber, Castro and Bryant homered against Michael Wacha in his first playoff appearance since he threw the final pitch of the 2014 postseason for the Cardinals, a game-ending, three-run shot for Travis Ishikawa in the NLCS against the Giants.
Bryant’s two-run drive made it 4-2 with one out in the fifth and chased Wacha in favor of Kevin Siegrist. But Anthony Rizzo followed another long ball, a drive to right for his first hit of the playoffs.
Even Adam Wainwright got into the act, serving up Soler’s two-run shot in the sixth. Soler, who struggled with injuries for much of the year, is 4 for 4 with two homers, four RBIs and five walks in the series. The final homer for Chicago went to Dexter Fowler, practically an elder statesman in Joe Maddon’s youthful lineup. Fowler doesn’t turns 30 until March, but Soler, Bryant, Rizzo, Schwarber and Castro are all 26 or younger.
METS 13, DODGERS 7
NEW YORK (AP) — Curtis Granderson drove in five runs, Yoenis Cespedes homered into the second deck and the New York Mets overcame Matt Harvey’s early struggles to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-7 Monday night for a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
Travis d’Arnaud also homered as the Mets set a franchise postseason record for runs in their first playoff game at Citi Field.
Mets rookie left-hander Steven Matz tries to close out the series Tuesday night, when the visiting Dodgers send NL MVP Clayton Kershaw to the mound on three days’ rest. Kershaw has lost five straight postseason starts.
Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley, jeered by the crowd after breaking the leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in Game 2, was eligible to play while appealing his two-game suspension, but did not get in.