MLB Playoffs: Day 14

Congratulations to the New York Mets, who won the fifth National League pennant in their 53-season history.  The 2015 flag follows titles in 1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000.  The Mets finished off their sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a very easy 8-3 win in Wrigley Field.  On paper, the Mets and the Cubs looked like a good match-up, but it turned out that the Cubs were simply unable to do anything with Mets pitching.  In 36 innings of baseball, the Cubs were out-hit 35 to 21, and outscored 21 to 8.  The Cubs also got very little help from their starting pitching staff, which gave up 9 runs in the first inning -- an average of more than two runs per game.  It's difficult to dig out from early holes in baseball, and the Cubs never came close.

Special attention should be paid to Met second baseman Daniel Murphy.  In the regular season, Murphy batted .281 with 14 home runs and 73 R.B.I.'s.  But in the playoffs, he has been Joe Hardy.  In five games against the Dodgers, he batted .333 with 3 homers and 5 R.B.I.'s.  In four games against the Cubs, he batted .529 with 4 homers -- one in each game -- and 6 R.B.I.'s.  Putting all nine games together, he now has a post-season slugging average of 1.294 -- and he has homered in six games in a row.  Even Gene Tenace would be jealous of this type of performance -- although maybe not, since Tenace performed his miracle in the World Series.

So the Mets are in the World Series, with the first sweep seen in the National League Championship Series since 2007.  But who will they play?  Toronto got off the mat yesterday, in large part because the Blue Jays finally got nine innings of good pitching.  Marco Estrada dominated the Royals for 7 2/3 innings yesterday, giving up only three hits and one run, and the Blue Jays rolled to an easy 7-1 victory.

The A.L.C.S. is now poised on a knife-edge as the teams head back to Kansas City.  If Toronto ace David Price can finally overcome his difficulties in the post-season, and hurl the Blue Jays to victory in Game Six, then we'll be looking at a winner-take-all Game Seven in the City of Fountains.  But if Price's post-season struggles continue (he's 0-7 as a post-season starter), then we will be looking at Kansas City vs. New York in the World Series.

National League Championship Series:
New York beat Chicago 4-0

American League Championship Series:
Kansas City beat Toronto 3-2