Following the New York Mets' 5-2 victory on Tuesday, extending their NLCS lead to 3-0, David Wright repeatedly stressed that his team needed to put away the Chicago Cubs tonight. The Mets took Wright's words to heart, jumping out to a four-run lead in the first inning.
With two on and two out, Lucas Duda picked a great time to break out of his 3/24 slump in the postseason, smashing a three-run home run to left-centerfield. With the Mets still celebrating the homer in the dugout, catcher Travis D'Arnaud followed Duda's blast with an opposite field shot of his own, giving the Mets a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning, Duda struck again, plating two more runs to increase the Mets' lead to six. His five RBIs in the game tied a postseason franchise record.
After giving up his first hit of the game—a double by Jorge Soler—in the fourth inning, rookie starting pitcher Steven Matz struggled a little bit to get back on track. Matz got out of a huge jam when the bases were loaded with zero outs, allowing just one run.
Everyone's favorite Met, Bartolo Colon, and Addison Reed contributed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, and like clockwork, Daniel Murphy hit another home run. It was his sixth straight game with a homer, setting a new MLB record.
A two-run homer by Kris Bryant cut the deficit down to five, but that was all the offense they could muster. Jeurys Familia closed the door on the Cubs' World Series hopes and for the first time in 15 years, the Mets are headed to the World Series.
Game 1 will take place on Oct. 27.
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