DYK? Cardinals-Cubs NLDS Game 4
The Cubs clinched a spot in the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night with an historic victory over the Cardinals.
Along with doing something that had never before been done at Wrigley Field, the Cubs snapped a number of other streaks with the Game 4 victory in the National League Division Series. With the first spot in the LCS now clinched, here's a look at 10 of the top facts and figures to come out of Tuesday's game.
:: NLDS: Cubs vs. Cardinals -- Results ::
• The Cubs' victory marked the first time the team has ever won a postseason series-clinching game at Wrigley Field.
• It also marked the first time the Cubs have ever rallied to win a series after losing Game 1. Chicago had lost each of its previous 11 postseason series in which it lost the opening game. As for the Cardinals, they had won each of their previous eight NLDS series in which they had won Game 1.
• After eliminating the Cardinals in the first postseason meeting between the two rivals, the Cubs will now set their sights toward getting their first postseason win over either the Mets or the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The Cubs were swept out of the 2008 NLDS by the Dodgers in their only postseason meeting, while Chicago has never faced the Mets in postseason play.
• As far as the regular season goes, the Cubs went a perfect 7-0 against the Mets, all while outscoring them by a margin of 27-11. They lost the season series to the Dodgers, however, dropping four out of the seven games.
• In each of the last four postseasons, the Cardinals have either won the World Series or been eliminated from the postseason by that respective season's World Series champion. St. Louis won the World Series in 2011 before being eliminated by the eventual World Series-champion Giants in both the 2012 and 2014 NLCS. The Cardinals also lost the 2013 World Series to the Red Sox.
• The Cubs managed to win Tuesday's series-clinching game despite starter Jason Hammel lasting only three-plus innings. In doing so, the Cubs became just the second team in NLDS history to win the series-clinching game without their starter recording even one out in the fourth inning. The only other team to overcome such an abbreviated start was the 2012 Cardinals, who rallied from a 6-0 deficit to eliminate the Nationals after starter Adam Wainwright was lifted after only 2 1/3 innings.
• After getting only three innings from their starter, the Cubs went on to use eight different pitchers in the Game 4 victory. That's the most pitchers ever used in a nine-inning, series-clinching victory in postseason history. Even including extra-inning games, it's tied for the all-time record with the eight pitchers used by the 2005 Astros in their 18-inning, NLDS-clinching victory over the Braves.
• Cardinals starter John Lackey also pitched only three innings on Tuesday, allowing four runs and a rare postseason home run to Javier Baez. The second-inning homer was the first postseason home run allowed by Lackey since Game 1 of the 2008 ALDS when he was a member of the Angels, pitching against the Red Sox. He had totaled 74 2/3 consecutive postseason innings without allowing a home run, the second-longest such streak in postseason history, behind only Whitey Ford's 82 1/3 straight homerless innings from 1956-62.
• It also ended a run of 11 straight postseason starts in which Lackey had pitched at least five innings without serving up a long ball. That's the most consecutive starts of at least five innings and no home runs in postseason history.
Video: STL@CHC Gm4: Statcast™ on Piscotty's two-run shot
• Speaking of home runs, Cardinals rookie Stephen Piscotty homered for the second straight game and the third time in the NLDS. In doing so, he became the only rookie in Major League history to homer in three of his first four career postseason games.
• On Tuesday, Hammel, Clayton Kershaw and Lackey each tallied a hit, marking the only time in MLB history that three different teams had a pitcher record a hit on the same postseason day.