The monkey is off the back of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-4 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday night, winning the series 3-1. It’s the first playoff series that the team has ever won at Wrigley Field, and just the second playoff series since 1908 (with the other coming in the 2003 NLDS against the Braves).
Almost immediately, the air was taken out of Wrigley Field. Matt Carpenter singled off of Jason Hammel to lead off the game, and Stephen Piscotty followed up with a two-run homer, staking the NL Central champions to a 2-0 lead. John Lackey set the Cubs down in order in the first, and it looked like Chicago could be in for a long day.
In the second, the Cubs woke up. Anthony Rizzo led off with an infield single, and Kyle Schwarber followed up with a single after Starlin Castro grounded into a fielder’s choice. Miguel Montero struck out for out number two, but Hammel shocked the hell out of everyone by drilling the first pitch he saw from Lackey up the middle to bring Castro home and make it a 2-1 game. Lackey’s next pitch was smashed into the right field bleachers by Javier Baez, giving the Cubs a 4-2 lead and sending Wrigley into pandemonium.
Then, the doldrums set in. Neither team did much of anything in the third. In the fourth, Hammel walked Jhonny Peralta to lead off the inning, and was pulled for Justin Grimm. Randal Grichuk reached on a fielder’s choice and Peralta advanced safely on an error, but Grimm struck out the side to preserve the lead. Adam Wainwright took over for Lackey in the fourth, and set down all six batters he faced.
In the top of the sixth, Jason Heyward led off the inning with a single against Travis Wood, and Wood was replaced on the hill by Trevor Cahill. Peralta singled, and Cahill struck the next two hitters out to nearly get out of the frame…but backup Cardinals catcher Tony Cruz doubled in Heyward to make it 4-3. Pinch hitter Brandon Moss then singled to bring in Peralta and tie the game, but Cruz was gunned out at the plate by Jorge Soler.
The Cardinals wouldn’t even be tied for an inning. Kevin Siegrist replaced Wainwright on the hill, and after retiring the first two batters in order, gave up a solo homer to Rizzo, putting the Cubs back in front 5-4.
The Cardinals couldn’t make the most of one-out Piscotty walk in the seventh, and the Cubs extended their lead to two runs after Kyle Schwarber blasted a mammoth home run over the right field scoreboard.
Once again, the Cardinals went down quietly in the eighth, and the Cubs couldn’t add more insurance despite getting a leadoff triple from Kris Bryant and also loading the bases with two outs in the frame.
In the ninth, Hector Rondon set down the first two hitters he faced before giving up a single to Carpenter, making everyone at Wrigley Field and across the country hold their breath. But Rondon struck out Piscotty to end the game, finish off the Cardinals season, and send the Cubs into their first NLCS since 2003.
It was a great season for the Cardinals, but their year-long battle with injuries was finally too much for them to overcome in the Postseason. As for the Cubs, they’ll await the winner of the Mets and the Dodgers in the NLCS, and one of those three teams will be heading to their first Fall Classic in many years.
