Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets, Mets win series 4-0

Game 4: Jason Hammel (CHC) vs. Steven Matz (NYM) – New York 8, Chicago 3

There’s not much to say for the Chicago Cubs. They were doomed from the start. Or, more accurately, they were doomed AT the start, because they started Jason Hammel. I feel for the guy, but after a frisky April-to-June stretch, he was downright bad from July on. Why? I’m sure that there’s a litany of reasons, but his lousy performance in the 1st inning was risk factor #1.

For the duration of 2015, Hammel’s 1st-inning ERA was 5.23, and he allowed batters faced in the first frame to rack up a .921 OPS. In all other innings, he put up a respectable ERA of 3.42. And his OPS against was all the way down at .664. Does he take a while to get going? Does he just have trouble against the top part of a lineup the first time through? You tell me, but the Cubs paid for Hammel’s deficiencies last night, no matter the cause.

The game was effectively over in the top of the 1st. Hammel gave up a single to Curtis Granderson and a 2-out walk to Yoenis Cespedes to bring Lucas Duda to the plate, and Duda made him pay.

Before Cubs fans could pick themselves up off the floor, Travis d’Arnaud took Hammel deep again to make it 4-0.

The Cubs pulled Hammel after he walked David Wright with 1 out, and the Mets added two more runs against Travis Wood on an RBI double by Duda. Chicago, meanwhile, didn’t record its first hit until the 4th inning, when a Jorge Soler double started the Cubs’ first attempt at a rally on the night. The bases were eventually loaded with no outs, but only Soler scored. 6-1, Mets.

Just when things couldn’t get worse for Chicago, Daniel Murphy remembered that he had history to make.

Kris Bryant also hit a 2-run shot in the 8th inning to bring the deficit back to 5 runs, but people didn’t seem to care as much about his as they did about Murphy’s.

This was now all a lie:

And that’s a darn shame. Mets win, 8-3, and advance to the World Series.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Kansas City Royals, Royals lead series 3-2

Next game: Tomorrow, Friday, 8:07 ET, in Kansas City. David Price (TOR) vs. Yordano Ventura (KC)