Cubs defeat Cardinals 6-4, advance to NLCS

Players danced on the field, puffing cigars and spraying what little was left of their champagne.

Once again, the Cardinals went down quietly in the eighth, and the Cubs couldn’t add more insurance despite getting a leadoff triple from Kris Bryant and also loading the bases with two outs in the frame. That was a big play in the game.

There had been nights of celebration here before, but never one like this. The Cubs swept the season series from the Mets, winning all seven games.

It leaves the club – a perennial laughing stock – just one series away from reaching the World Series.

But the Cubs are the marquee Midwest team moving on now, having beaten the Cardinals in the NLDS by a margin of 3-1.

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was much more than a casual observer in watching his team clinch a postseason series Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field. “That’s the big brother over there”. They haven’t won a championship since 1993, of course.

“We just beat the best team in baseball”.

Did Back to the Future predict the Cubs would win the World Series? St. Louis remained the premier franchise in the NL Central.

The Chicago Tribune reports the average ticket price for a Cubs-Dodgers game in LA is $366.24, while the average cost for a Cubs-Mets game is $846.43.

As Cubs manager Joe Maddon stood on the field, celebrating the magical moment, he commented on a possible meeting with the Mets. They celebrate every win with a dance party, and they won 97 games this season.

“You have seen every move we have made along the way”, Ricketts said. Chicago’s other playoff series win came when it topped Atlanta in the 2003 NLDS.

It took a patchwork pitching effort for the Cubs to advance.

“It’s not like Jason (Hammel) was throwing the ball poorly”, said Maddon, who replaced his starting pitcher in the fourth inning.

Baez followed with a three-run homer and the Cubs jumped in front 4-2. 811 OPS in the regular season, was allowed to give up game-clinching home runs to Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber Tuesday – and the Cardinals’ inability to beat Jake Arrieta despite forcing his shortest start since June can be lamented.

Cubs’ rookie Kyle Schwarber has been likened to a cross between Babe Ruth and Phillies’ slugger John Kruk for his build and prodigious home run power. With the Cubs leading by a run in the seventh inning, Schwarber connected against Cardinals reliever Kevin Siegrist, sending a moonshot to right field that actually landed on top of the Wrigley Field videoboard. Hammel allowed two runs on three hits, walked three and strike out two. The Cubs saw five players under age 27 hit home runs in Game 3 on Monday.

“I’m always going to be quick to say no matter who it is we don’t have, we’d like to have him, and then we make the decision who’s going to give us the best chance”, Matheny said.

“We’re going to enjoy this”.

A lifelong Cubs fan living his dream, Bussy is, in many ways, the heart and soul of the organization. But what has become clear this season is that the players themselves are not at all like their fans.

“All they really care about is showing up, having fun, embracing what it means to be a Cub”, Epstein said.

“The only thing we want to hang on us is a pennant and let everybody else write about it, ” said the former Red Sox general manager who broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 and now is trying to get the Cubs to win their first World Series since 1908.

For Chicago, the best firsts may be yet to come.