Stats of the Day: Murphy's wild ride continues
Mets star goes deep in record sixth consecutive postseason game
Here are five interesting items from the Championship Series on Wednesday …
• The Mets finished off a National League Championship Series sweep of the Cubs with an 8-3 win Wednesday at Wrigley Field, capturing the fifth pennant in franchise history. In the win, Daniel Murphy singled and scored in the second, singled in the fourth, doubled in the seventh, and left the best for last: a record-setting home run in the eighth. With the long ball, Murphy -- who was named the NLCS MVP Award winner -- became the first player to homer in six straight postseason games. He had been tied with Carlos Beltran, who set the mark in 2004. Murphy posted a 1.294 series slugging percentage that established a new record for any four-game LCS (minimum 3.1 plate appearances per game).
• Postseason gear: Mets | Royals
• Mets first baseman Lucas Duda hit a three-run home run in the first inning, added a two-run double in the second, and he capped his night with another double (this one with the bases empty) in the ninth. Duda became the 69th player in postseason history (and second Mets player this postseason) to have a five-RBI game. With Duda joining Curtis Granderson (five RBIs in Game 3 of the NLDS), New York became the eighth team to have multiple five-RBI performances in a single postseason.
Video: NLCS Gm4: Statcast™ looks at Duda's long home run
• By virtue of his 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, Bartolo Colon was awarded the win for the Mets. At 42 years and 150 days old, the right-hander was the fifth-oldest hurler to have a postseason victory, behind only Dennis Martinez (44 years and 150 days in Game 4 of the 1998 NLCS), Roger Clemens (43 years and 72 days in Game 3 of the 2005 NLCS), Clemens (43 years and 66 days in Game 4 of the '05 NLDS) and Dolf Luque (43 years 64 days in Game 5 of the 1933 World Series).
• With the Blue Jays needing a victory to extend the American League Championship Series to a sixth game, Toronto starter Marco Estrada limited the Royals to one run and three hits in 7 2/3 innings to help lead the Blue Jays to a 7-1 win. Estrada, who faced the minimum through the first six innings, improved to 2-1 in this year's postseason, with both victories coming in potential elimination games. In those two efforts (Game 3 of the AL Division Series and Wednesday), Estrada worked 14 innings, allowed eight hits and two runs, struck out nine and walked one. Estrada is the eighth pitcher to start and win multiple postseason games in a single year when his team was facing elimination. The first seven: the Tigers' Mickey Lolich (1968), the Athletics' Catfish Hunter ('73), the Dodgers' Burt Hooton and Fernando Valenzuela ('81), the Royals' Danny Jackson ('85), the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter (2011) and the Giants' Matt Cain (2012).
Video: Facing elimination, Estrada steps up to the challenge
• Playing in his 25th career postseason game, Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki drove in three with a bases-loaded double. This game marked the third time this postseason that Tulowitzki had driven in at least three runs, following a four-RBI effort in Game 3 of the ALDS and a three-RBI line in Game 3 of the ALCS. Tulowitzki is the first Blue Jays player to have three games with at least three RBIs in a single postseason (Paul Molitor had two such games in 1993). Tulowitzki is the third shortstop to have a trio of three-RBI lines in a single postseason, joining Boston's Nomar Garciaparra ('98) and San Francisco's Rich Aurilia (2002), and Tulowitzki is the fifth player to have multiple three-RBI efforts in potential elimination games in one year. The previous four: Atlanta's Fred McGriff in 1996, Boston's John Valentin in '99 and David Ortiz in 2004, and St. Louis' David Freese in '11.