Mets sweep Cubs to earn trip to World Series

CHICAGO — On Wednesday night, the Mets beat the Cubs 8-3 (box score) and in doing so clinched an NLCS sweep and a trip to the World Series. Now let’s have a look at some key takeaways …

1. The Cubs were overmatched by Mets pitching.

The Cubs had a good offense in the regular season — sixth in the NL in runs scored per game and even better than that once Kyle Schwaber became a lineup regular. However, the Mets absolutely suffocated the Chicago bats in this series. The managed but eight runs in four games, and the Cubs entered Game 4 with a .158/.208/.284 line for the series. Then, in Game 4, they went out and batted .181. The power arms from Queens lived up to the lofty expectations placed upon them, to say the least.

2. Teams that sweep the LCS haven’t fared well in the World Series.

Feel free to file this under “small-sample observations that probably don’t mean very much.” That said, LCS “sweepers” have not fared well in the Fall Classic. Since the ALCS and NLCS went to a best-of-seven format in 1985, seven teams have swept the LCS. Of those seven teams, only one, the 1995 Braves, went on to win the World Series. The overarching lesson is that there’s no such thing as carryover momentum in baseball.

3. Daniel Murphy did it again.

Because he knows of no other way right now, Murphy homered yet again. His eighth inning homer in Game 4 was his seventh of the 2015 playoffs, which means he’s one away from tying Barry Bonds, Carlos Beltran, and Nelson Cruz for the most home runs in one postseason. There’s also this …

Daniely Murphy, Cloutsman.

Daniel Murphy has been unstoppable in the postseason. (USATSI)

4. The Mets’ staff will get some extra rest.

In late October, there’s no such thing as unwelcome rest, and that’s certainly the case for the young Mets rotation. The NLCS sweep gives the Mets (and most especially those young arms) five days of rest before Game 1 against the Blue Jays or Royals. Given Matt Harvey‘s workload concerns and Jacob deGrom‘s recent blips with his command, some restorative time off may be just what’s needed. That’s to say nothing of Yoenis Cespedes‘ ailing shoulder.

5. David Wright came up big with the glove in the fourth inning.

The Mets’ captain has some rough overall numbers at the plate thus far in the 2015 postseason (thanks mostly to a 1-for-16 performance in the NLDS), but Wright made a potentially huge play with the glove in Game 4. Mets up 6-0, bases loaded with no outs in the home half of the fourth, Starlin Castro at the plate. Castro yanks one at 107 mph off the bat …

That’s a nifty snare, and that’s a clutch snare. If that screaming liner makes it past Wright, then we’re probably talking about a 6-2 score, no outs, and the potential tying run on deck. Instead, thanks in part to Wright’s quick-twitch play, starter Steven Matz escaped with allowing only one run. In real way, Wright’s catch was the killing blow for the Cubs in Game 4.

6. The Mets in the NLCS ran wild relative to their usual standards.

During the regular season, the Mets ranked last in the NL with 51 steals (in all of baseball, only the Orioles swiped fewer bags). To put a finer point on it, tied for third on the 2015 Mets in stolen bases were … Eric Campbell and Darrell Ceciliani. But in the NLCS? In the NLCS the Mets stole seven bases in four games (with a success rate of 87.5 percent). That’s 1.75 steals per game in the NLCS versus 0.31 steals per game in the regular season.

To be sure, the Cubs had a little something to do with this. During the 2015 regular season, the Cubs ranked last in all of baseball with a defensive caught-stealing percentage of 21.7 percent. As well, the Cubs allowed 137 stolen bases on the year, which was second only the Pirates (144). So credit the Mets for abandoning their usual conservatism on the bases in order to take advantage of a Cubs weakness.

7. This was a disappointing series for the Cubs, but it was anything but a disappointing season.

The Cubs were swept handily in the NLCS, yes, but 2015 was a huge year for the team. Despite a home in baseball’s toughest division, despite a regular trickle of untested rookies on to the active roster, and despite an 89-loss season in 2014, the Cubs barged to 97 wins in the regular season, vanquished the rival Cardials in the NLDS, and came within eight wins of hoisting the trophy.

With a young core of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, and Javier Baez under team control for years to come and with a gusher of a revenue stream, the Cubs will be a team of consequence for a long time. They’ll have another shot at this, maybe as soon as 2016.

For now, though, it’s about the Mets …

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