The New York Mets started off the National League Championship Series with a bang, riding dominant pitching in Games 1 and 2 at Citi Field to a 2-0 series lead.
The series shifted to Chicago and Wrigley Field Tuesday night, but the hometown Cubs had their hands full with Mets ace Jacob deGrom. After giving up a home run in the first inning, deGrom morphed back into his normal self—the one who's nearly impossible to hit.
He surrendered a second homer, this one to Jorge Soler, in the fourth inning. After that, no Cubs hitter reached base while deGrom was on the mound. He retired the next 11 batters in a row before Tyler Clippard took the hill in the eighth and Jeurys Familia shut the door in the ninth.
Now the Mets are on the doorstep of the World Series, needing only one more win to advance to the Fall Classic. They won't have to wait long. Game 4 is Wednesday night.
You can catch Game 4 on TBS at 8:07 p.m. ET. If you're looking to stream the game, you can do so at TBS.com. If you want to take in the game at historic Wrigley Field, check in with ScoreBig.com.
Mets lefty Steven Matz will take the mound in Game 4 and face off with Jason Hammel. According to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, Matz enters Wednesday's game "on seven days' rest and having not pitched regularly in the majors for any two-week stretch since his major league debut at the end of June."
However, Matz told Ackert he doesn't feel like the fluctuating rest schedule has affected him.
Really it hasn't been too challenging. I'm still able to get my work in between starts. You know, you're not on necessarily a routine as much as you were... during the regular season. But I'm still able to get my work in, and I still feel fresh for each start. So it's not too much of a challenge.
Matz is coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, when he provided Jacob deGrom with an extra day's rest and allowed him to shut down the Dodgers in a decisive Game 5. Now Matz will face a strong Cubs lineup with a raucous Wrigley crowd cheering against him. It will surely be a tough ask for the young southpaw.
Meanwhile, Neil Best of Newsday.com detailed how Hammel isn't feeling the pressure before what could be the biggest start of his professional career. "Obviously, the deeper you get in the playoffs, yeah. I guess you could say that they're the most difficult in my life," Hammel said. "But honestly, I'm not really worried about that."
Hammel is coming off just three innings of work in Game 4 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals, a start in which he allowed two runs on three hits. He did, however, deliver an RBI single in the second inning.
Neither pitcher is an ace, which means neither will be expected to completely shut down the opposing lineup. But this Cubs squad won't go down without a fight. Give us the veteran pitcher with the home crowd behind him. Cubs 6, Mets 4.
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