DYK? Cubs-Mets NLCS Game 1
In the first National League Championship Series game at Citi Field, the Mets earned a 4-2 win over the Cubs on Saturday night. They hold a 1-0 series edge heading into Sunday's Game 2 (7 p.m. ET air time on TBS, 8 p.m. ET game time).
Here are some notable facts and figures from the opener in Queens.
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• Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy provided a 1-0 lead with a first-inning home run off Cubs left-hander Jon Lester. It was Murphy's third straight game with a homer, tying the franchise postseason record that Donn Clendenon set in 1969.
• It also was Murphy's fourth homer in six postseason games. He had never gone deep four times over any six-game span in his career, according to ESPN. Carlos Delgado (2006), Mike Piazza ('00) and Rusty Staub (1973) are the only other Mets to collect four homers in a single postseason.
• Three of Murphy's postseason homers have come off lefties, as he also hit two against the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in the NL Division Series. Murphy had taken a southpaw deep just once during the regular season, three times over the past two seasons and 12 times in his career.
• Meanwhile, Lester had allowed only seven homers to left-handed batters over the past two seasons. According to Inside Edge, Murphy was the first lefty this season to drive Lester's cutter out of the ballpark.
• Matt Harvey, who pitched 7 2/3 innings for the victory, became the third Mets starter to strike out at least nine batters while giving up no more than four hits in a postseason game. The others are Dwight Gooden (1988 NLCS Game 1) and Jon Matlack ('73 NLCS Game 2).
Video: NLCS Gm1: Harvey allows a pair of runs in 7 2/3 frame
• Harvey missed bats on 42 percent of the Cubs' swings, his second-highest whiff percentage in any start this season, according to ESPN.
• Mets closer Jeurys Familia threw the final 1 1/3 innings for his third postseason save. He allowed one hit and one walk, his first two baserunners over 6 2/3 postseason innings.
• When Kyle Schwarber crushed a solo shot off Harvey in the eighth, it gave the Cubs' rookie a homer in three straight games, tying the franchise postseason record set by Alex Gonzalez in 2003. It also tied Schwarber with Gonzalez and Aramis Ramirez (also '03) for most homers by a Cubs player in a single postseason, with four.
Video: Schwarber hits homers in three straight October games
• Schwarber is only the second player younger than 23 to homer four times in a single postseason, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The other was Miguel Cabrera in 2003.
• Harvey hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch in the fifth inning to set up the Cubs' first run. Rizzo led the Majors during the regular season by getting hit by a pitch 30 times.
• When Curtis Granderson gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, he did so on an 0-2 pitch from Lester. Granderson was just 4-for-46 (.087) on 0-2 pitches during the regular season and hit .157 on all pitches after falling behind 0-2.
• The Mets won despite No. 2 hitter David Wright going 0-for-3 with a walk. Wright is 1-for-19 with five walks this postseason and hitless in 16 at-bats since Game 1 of the NLDS.
• When Mets center fielder Juan Lagares stole third base in the seventh inning, setting up his run on Granderson's sacrifice fly, it was the first time in his Major League career that he had swiped third.
• Since the LCS switched to a best-of-seven format in 1985, 36 of 58 teams that have won Game 1 have gone on to victory in the series.