Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Cubs win series 3-1

Game 4: Jason Hammel (CHC) vs. John Lackey (STL) – Chicago 6, St. Louis 4

Jason Hammel was immediately hittable in the 1st inning, giving up a single and a home run to start the game and put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole.

He ended up only giving Chicago 3+ innings of work, but he was scoreless from then on and proved to be the biggest offensive difference-maker of the night. A career .134 hitter, Hammel came to the plate with 2 on and 2 out in the 2nd, still down 2-0. He took the first pitch from John Lackey and sent it back up the middle for a run-scoring base hit.

This brought up Javier Baez (from the 9-hole!), who only hit a 3-run homer to give Chicago a 4-2 lead.

Lackey just didn’t have his Game 1 stuff, and he too was pulled after just 3 innings. He was taken out in favor of Adam Wainwright, who retired 6 consecutive batters.

In the meantime, the Cardinals got to Travis Wood and Trevor Cahill (mostly Cahill) in the 6th, but Jorge Soler prevented the Cardinals from taking the lead, holding them to a 2-run inning with a great throw home from right field. 4-4.

Wainwright was replaced in the bottom of the 6th by Kevin Siegrist, who was great in the regular season but less so in the playoffs (to the tune of a 9.00 ERA). He gave up two solo home runs – one by Anthony Rizzo with 2 outs in the 6th:

And an absolute moonshot by Kyle Schwarber to lead off the 7th:

That ball is still on top of the scoreboard. I’m serious. Cubs win! Cubs win!

New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, series tied 2-2

Game 4: Steven Matz (NYM) vs. Clayton Kershaw (LAD) – Los Angeles 3, New York 1

Clayton Kershaw went 7 innings for only the second time in his postseason career in a shutdown effort against the Mets to keep LA’s World Series hopes alive. He did this on 3 days’ rest. The Mets, however, chose to bring out Steven Matz, who is a promising young starter but is not Jacob deGrom. We’ll find out tomorrow night whether New York made the right decision in saving deGrom for Game 5.

The Dodgers’ damage came all at once, and, like the Cubs-Cardinals game, was brought on by a single by a pitcher. With 1 out in the 3rd, Kershaw singled, and he was later forced out at second for what might’ve been the third out of the inning if Matz had taken care of business against a .153 career hitter. Instead, Matz gave up two more singles and a double with 2 outs, and the Dodgers grabbed a 3-0 lead.

Daniel Murphy hit a solo home run off Clayton Kershaw for the second time in this series in the 4th inning to give New York a little bit of life. It was also the Mets’ first hit of the game.

But it wasn’t enough, and the Mets offense only mustered two singles and two walks the rest of the way. Mets lose! Mets lose!

Next game: Tomorrow, Thursday, 8:07 ET, in Los Angeles. Jacob deGrom (NYM) vs. Zack Greinke (LAD)

Today’s slate:

Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, series tied 2-2

4:07 ET, in Toronto. Cole Hamels (TEX) vs. Marcus Stroman (TOR) – Live right now!

Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals, series tied 2-2

8:07 ET, in Kansas City. Collin McHugh (HOU) vs. Johnny Cueto (KC)