Stats of the Day: Cubs' deep 6 sets mark
Here are five interesting items from the Division Series on Monday …
• At Wrigley Field, the Cubs' offense picked up Jake Arrieta and defeated the Cardinals, 8-6. With the win, Chicago took a 2-1 National League Division Series lead over the Cardinals. The Cubs got home runs from 22-year-old Kyle Schwarber, 23-year-old Kris Bryant, 23-year-old Jorge Soler, 25-year-old Starlin Castro, 26-year-old Anthony Rizzo and 29-year-old Dexter Fowler. The six home runs set a single-game postseason record. The previous record of five had been reached five times, most recently by the White Sox in Game 1 of the 2005 American League Division Series. With Schwarber, Soler, and Bryant going yard, the Cubs became the first team in postseason history to have three players younger than 24 years old homer. In Game 3 of the 1969 NL Championship Series, the Mets (Ken Boswell and Wayne Garrett) became the first (and before the Cubs, only) team to have two.
• Facing a 6-2 deficit in Houston, the Royals scored five runs in the top of the eighth, tacked on two more in the ninth and came away with a 9-6 victory to force a winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS. Dating back to the 1985 postseason, the Royals have won nine of their last 10 games when facing elimination (3-0 in both the 1985 AL Championship Series and the 1985 World Series; wins in the 2014 AL Wild Card Game and Game 6 of the 2014 World Series; a loss in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series).
Video: Must C Comeback: Royals' late heroics set up Game 5
• In the Game 4 loss to the Royals, the Astros' Carlos Correa went 4-for-4 with two homers, a double, a single and a hit-by-pitch. Correa was 21 years and 20 days old for this performance. He became the second-youngest player to have a multihomer game in the postseason, after the Braves' Andruw Jones (19 years and 180 days old) in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series. Correa became the youngest player to amass at least 11 total bases in a postseason contest. There had been 14 players to tally at least 11, with the previous youngest being the Pirates' Bob Robertson, who had 14 (with three home runs and a double) in Game 2 of the 1971 NLCS at the age of 25 years and one day. Correa's 11 total bases are the most for a shortstop in a postseason contest, surpassing Derek Jeter's 10 from Game 1 of the 2006 ALDS.
Video: KC@HOU Gm4: Correa crushes two homers against Royals
• In Arlington, the Blue Jays jumped on the Rangers for seven runs through the first three innings and defeated Texas, 8-4, to force a winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS. With four doubles and three home runs, the Blue Jays set a franchise record with seven extra-base hits in a postseason game. The previous mark of six had been set in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, when they defeated the Phillies, 15-14.
• The Mets made their first postseason game at Citi Field an historic one, pounding the Dodgers, 13-7. With the win, New York took a 2-1 NLDS lead. Batting leadoff, Curtis Granderson doubled twice and drove in five runs. Granderson became the seventh leadoff hitter to have a five-RBI game in the postseason. Johnny Damon drove in six in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS; he is one of three Red Sox to make this list. The other two -- Jose Offerman and Dustin Pedroia -- are joined by Davey Lopes (the first to do this, in Game 1 of the 1978 World Series), Dan Gladden and Kaz Matsui. The Mets' 13 runs set a new postseason record for the franchise, eclipsing the dozen they plated while defeating the Cardinals by seven in Game 4 of the 2006 NLCS.