For the first time since the turn of the century, the New York Mets are heading to the World Series.
Steven Matz allowed one run over 4.2 innings, Daniel Murphy continued his ascent to October superstardom with a four-hit night and Lucas Duda drove in five runs as the Mets earned an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs to advance to the 2015 Fall Classic.
"It's very exciting," said Mets manager Terry Collins, per Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-Sentinel. "I'm so happy for the job we did. There were some tremendous peaks and tremendous valleys. This might be the finest group of guys I've ever been around.
"After all these years, I can't believe I'm going to the World Series. It's a special moment for me. I told the players we had to grind it out. We're going to go home and enjoy it."
Can't get much of a better meme than this:
This is the second consecutive year a sweep has happened during the LCS, which is just the second time that's occurred since the Mets' last appearance in late October. Mike Vorkunov of the Star-Ledger showed the team's fans weren't leaving Wrigley anytime soon:
Manager Terry Collins appreciated everyone in the stands:
When looking at the two rosters, this is arguably one of the most surprising sweeps in recent memory. Picked by most experts to finish well out of playoff contention, the Mets were carried by their bustling young pitching staff to an NL East crown during the regular season and carried that over into impressive wins against the high-priced Dodgers and Cubs.
New York held Chicago to three or fewer runs in each of the NLCS' four games and has allowed more than five runs once through nine postseason contests. Matz, a 24-year-old rookie making his second career playoff start, continued that trend by spraying four hits and fanning four batters before giving way to the bullpen. Bartolo Colon, Addison Reed, Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia combined to close the game.
BuzzFeed Sports had video of Familia closing it out, and MLB's Twitter feed offered the on-field celebration:
As has been the case the entire postseason, the Mets pitchers also got a surprising amount of help from the bats. Murphy set a playoff record by homering in his sixth straight game and now has seven home runs overall, which is one away from tying the all-time playoff record. The Mets' Twitter feed posted footage of his celebration:
"This is very special," said Murphy, per Haudricourt. "I can't explain it. It's surprising to me. It's such a blessing to be able to contribute to what we do. I'm excited to do something to help us win some big games. This means so much to all of us."
As for the rest of the team, they went about celebrating in the only way professional sports teams know how—lots and lots of sprayed alcoholic beverages:
The Mets now await the winner of the ongoing ALCS. The Kansas City Royals currently hold a 3-2 lead heading back home for Game 6, but they blew a prime opportunity to close out the series earlier Wednesday, and Toronto ace David Price is waiting to force a deciding seventh game. Regardless, with the World Series set to start Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Mets are looking at an extended layoff.
Their fans will have their fingers crossed that the break won't slow down the hottest team in baseball.
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