All 6 Of The Cubs’ Record-Breaking Homers

The St. Louis Cardinals are on the road tonight in Major League Baseball Playoff action, taking on the Chicago Cubs.

Josh Donaldson and Chris Colabello hit home runs before 40-year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw his first postseason pitch, and the Toronto Blue Jays forced a deciding Game 5 in the AL Division Series with a win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast).

The young sluggers of the Chicago Cubs are making themselves at home in the playoffs.

On a rare off night for Jake Arrieta, the Windy City rookies bashed their way to the brink of the N.L. Championship Series – and into the record book.

Chicago hit a major-league-postseason-record six home runs Monday in an 8-6 victory, and three Cubs players – Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber – each have two homers in the series. Arrieta struck out nine before departing in the sixth, and the bullpen finished the job in the first playoff game at Wrigley Field in seven years.

“It’s hard to finish off good teams”, cautioned Cubs manager Joe Maddon. To be fair, the wind did play a big part, as it was carrying balls a good 10-15 feet further than they normally would have gone, but that is by no means the reason the Cubs won.

“We definitely can’t jump ahead of ourselves”, Granderson said of the chance to wrap up the series.

“I’ve done this a few times now in the postseason, and I understand that it’s just another ballgame”, he said Monday before the Cubs beat the Cardinals 8-6 in Game 3. The Cardinals will turn to Lackey on short rest to start Game 4.

The Mets moved within one win of reaching the League Championship Series with a 13-7 victory over the Dodgers in New York.

Louis, which got to Arrieta for four runs in his worst start in four months. The Cardinals, though, were unable to keep the Cubs in the ballpark.

Jhonny Peralta hit a double which allowed Piscotty to run to home plate while Holliday went to third.

The pitching change backfired on Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. In his first four playoff starts that year, Wacha allowed a total of three runs and only 11 hits in 27 brilliant innings.

And it didn’t matter, not one bit.

Bryant delivered the key blow – a two-run homer in a three-run fifth that gave the Cubs a 4-2 lead. But Anthony Rizzo followed another long ball, a drive to right for his first hit of the playoffs. Soler, who struggled with injuries for much of the year, is 4 for 4 with two homers, four RBI and five walks in the series. The homer – his first of the postseason – brought home Soler and earned a curtain call from Cubs fans. He slammed a 94-mph fastball from Cardinals starter Michael Wacha into the left-field bleachers, turning a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 lead. Heyward had St. Louis’ first hit in the second inning Monday. Molina is battling a torn ligament in his left thumb, sustained on September 20 against the Cubs, and was visibly in pain after a swing in his second at bat.

The changes will be for the rest of the season, and if either team goes on to win the World Series, it could be extended!

Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young victor, allowed one run over 4⅔ innings and was pulled with a 7-1 lead and a runner on base.

Hammel recorded a 2.82 ERA in his first 18 starts of the regular season before posting a 5.37 ERA in his final 13.