Remembering Mets History (2015): The Mets Win The 2015 NL Pennant

Wednesday October 21st, 2015: NLCS Game #4- Wrigley Field, Chicago

With a three games to none series lead, Terry Collins Mets were looking for the sweep tonight to advance to the 2015 World Series. They had the hottest hitter in the history of the world, Daniel Murphy ready to break the post season consecutive HR record & yet another fine young pitcher ready to start.

Steven Matz went up against Joe Maddon & the Cubs' Jason Hammel, hoping for a miracle. But in reality he didn't have a prayer.

Curtis Granderson led off the game with a line drive base hit to left field. Next David Wright struck out & then Daniel Murphy actually popped out to third base. 

With two down, Granderson eventually stole second base. Next, Yoenis Cespedes drew a walk putting two men on for Lucas Duda.

Sooner or later it was going to happen, it was long over due, Duda cracked a HR to the center field bleachers quickly putting the Mets up 3-0.

Duda had hit 27 HRs in the regular season, and had been slumping throughout the playoffs, setting a new strike out record going down 13 times. The crowd at Wrigley Field went quiet & although they put their heart into it at certain times during the rest of the night, most of the life was sucked out of them.

Then before Mets fans could catch their breath & realize what was happening, the next Mets batter Travis d'Arnaud hit a solo HR of his own. It was 4-0, the Mets were never to look back it was only matter of getting 27 outs & they would be the National League Champions.

The Cubs were dead, they were out played in all areas of the game for four straight games. Maybe it was the curse of the Billy Goat, who's name happened to be Murphy, or that black cat who came out at Shea Stadium in 1969, peering his back luck into the Cubbies dugout, or maybe both of their ghosts returned to haunt the 2015 Cubs.

Trivia: The back to back HRs were the first Mets post season HRs, since Darryl Strawberry & Kevin McReynolds went back to back in the 1988 NLCS against the Dodgers.

The Mets sent nine batters to the plate in the 1st inning so it was the top of the order in the 2nd. David Wright drew a walk & Daniel Murphy then singled to left field. With two outs Lucas Duda came up & lines bullet to the right field wall. Wright & Murph both scored making it 6-0 Mets.

Trivia: In his first two at bats in this game, Duda set a Mets franchise record with five RBIs in a post season game.

Note: Yoenis Cespedes was taken out of the game in the 2nd inning, with sore shoulder.

Joe Maddon would go through seven Cubs pitchers on the night, by the way no sign of Arrieta or Lester, they were done days ago.

On the mound for New York, the Mets young starter, Steven Matz had a fine outing as he went into the 5th inning, allowing one run, on four hits, two walks & four strike outs. He was relieved by Bartolo Colon, who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings earning the victory.

Trivia: With that victory Bartolo Colon made history, by having the longest span between post season wins (14).  

Addison Reed, had a great three up three down inning 9in the 7th.

In the Mets 8th, another piece of Mets & post season history was made. That man again, Daniel Murphy connected for another HR. The two run shot was Murphy's 7th of the post season, in just nine games.

More importantly it was the sixth straight post season game in which Murphy homered, a new post season record. No one has ever done it before! Amazing.........

In the home 8th, Tyler Clippard had a shaky inning, serving up a two run HR to Kris Bryant making it 8-3 Mets. After an uneventful Mets top of the 9th it was onto the final three outs.

In the 9th it was once again Familia Time. Mets closer, Jeurys Familia came on and got Chris Coghlan & Tommy La Stella to both ground out. He then walked Miguel Montero to prolong the wait for the  celebration. But then fate was sealed, Familia struck out Dexter Fowler looking and the Mets were on to the World Series.

Familia dropped to his knees & was Greeted by catcher Travis d'Arnaud as they embraced the rest of the Mets piled on to the field & celebrated the NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT.

In Mets history, the Mets are now 5-3 in the NLCS & are going to their fifth World Series. They have beaten the Atlanta Braves (1969) Cincinnati Reds (1973) Houston Astros (1986) & St. Louis Cardinals (2000). In the Fall Classic they are 4-2.

NLCS Note: Terry Collins managed to squeeze 12 position players in the game tonight, everyone but back up catcher Kevin Plawecki & reserve infielder Matt Reynolds who has never played a major league game.

2015 NLCS MVP
DANIEL MURPHY

Quotes: Mets Broadcaster Howie Rose "You can not believe what has become of Daniel Murphy".

Remebering Mets History (2015): NLCS Game #3- Mets One Win Away From World Series

Tuesday, October 20th 2015: NLCS Game #3- Wrigley Field, Chicago

Wrigley Field has not hosted an NLCS since 2003 & the whole Moises Alou foul ball debacle. So an excited sell out crowd filled the Friendly Confines, with hope of getting back in the series.

Although there was a bit  of excitement early on, the Mets quieted the crowd beat the Cubs & are one win away, that's one win away from the World Series.

Jacob deGrom got the ball, looking for his third post season win, going against the Cubs Kyle Hendricks (8-7 / 3.49 ERA / 167 Ks).

The game started out a bit wacky, Curtis Granderson reached on an error by short stop Javier Baez but was thrown out trying to steal second. David Wright then singled & was brought home by Yoenis Cespedes double to left field. 1-0 Mets.

The Cubs tied it with a HR by Kyle Schwabler, his second of the series. Two out singles by Anthony Rizzo & Starlin Castro got the Cubs fans excited, but deGrom then got Jorge Soler to ground out to Wilmer Flores. A 29 pitch shaky inning, ended with just one run.

This was to be another night where deGrom did not have his best fastball but pitched like an All Star & made his off speed stuff work.

In the 2nd deGrom retired the Cubs in order.

In the top of the 3rd, in what has become an unbelievable familiar site, Daniel Murphy hit his sixth post season HR, his fifth straight post season game with a HR, tying the MLB record. Amazing, Muphy has made a name for himself forever in Mets post season history. 2-1 Mets.

Quotes: Mets broadcaster Josh Lewin: Whatever the aliens did to Murphy when they invaded his body a few weeks ago, Mets fans are saying; Thank you!

Maybe its the fact Yoenis Cespedes is hitting behind him, or D. Wright is batting in front of him. Maybe its because he's hitting in the three spot, something Keith Hernandez suggested a long time ago. Maybe its the post season luck, maybe its the fact that the name of the Billy Goat that cursed the Cubs was named; Murphy.

Or maybe its because the team was trying to trade him for two seasons, even though he was an All Star & was in the tops in the NL in hits in the regular seasons. Post season Magic??? What ever it is, we saw an incredible historic post season hitting performance.  Murph had 12 hits, 6 HRs 9 RBIs 9 runs scored a .364 average & a .382 on base % in these playoffs.

The Cubs tied it in the 4th on a solo HR by Jorge Soler. But deGrom settled in, and got into his groove, retiring the side in order in each of the next three innings. His line for the night, seven innings, two runs on four hits one walk & seven strike outs while earning the win. He was 3-0 in this post season up then with a 2.57 ERA.

In the 6th, there was some historic Amazing Mets magic mixed with some historic Cubs bad luck. Cespedes singled with his second hit of the night. Lucas Duda then finally took advantage of that shift teams put on him, he sacrificed, even though he was out, he moved Cespedes over to second.

Cespedes then stole third base, another stolen base surprise for Chicago. The Mets had stolen third five times all season & in eight post season games stole third four times..... Amazing

Next more spooky stuff- after a coaching visit to the mound, Pitcher Trevor Cahill strikes out Michael Conforto. BUT, the ball gets past  the catcher & in one of the oldest ball parks in the game with one of the longest distances from home plate to the backstop, the ball rolls all the way to the brick wall.

Cespedes easily scores from third base, with the go ahead run. Quite a heads up base running effort all around, as well as a great sacrifice by Duda, small ball at its best. Conforto safely gets to first base. Mets go up 3-2.

Trvia: It was just the second time in post season history a go ahead run was scored on a passed ball strike out.

Next, Wilmer Flores doubled to right field, as the ball got by Jorge Soler, displaying a horrible effort of defense. One of many Cubs blunders on the evening. But then the ball got lost in the Ivy & the ground rules prevented any runs from scoring.

But in the 7th, the Mets tacked on a couple of more runs. David Wright stretched a hit into a double (his third hit of the night) as left fielder Kyle Schwabler made another Cub blunder on the field.

Then Daniel Murphy had a great at bat, fouling off a bunch of Kris Bryant pitches, before getting an infield hit, while hustling out of the box & beating out the grounder. Murph is doing it all. Two more hits tonight, two more runs scored.

Cespedes then singled, his third hit of the night bringing in Wright with the fourth Mets run. Cespedes is now batting .273 with 9 hits 2 HRs 7 RBIs 7 5 runs scored in this post season.

Duda then bounced a ball to first base, Rizzo stepped on the bag first then threw to the plate, but a hustling Murphy was safe as the catcher Montero was off the base & could not make a tag. 5-2 Mets, all they needed as the pen did it again.

Tyler Clippard had an easy 8th & lights out Jeurys Familia saved his fifth 2015 post season game.

The Mets now lead the NLCS three games to none & ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM THE WORLD SERIES!! Lets Go Mets!!!

Remembering Mets History (2015): NLCS Game #2: Tonight It's Thor With The Grandyman & Murph On Offense

Sunday October 18th, 2015: NLCS Game #2- Citi Field Queens, New York

The Mets were flying high after taking the 1-0 series lead, as 44,502 crowded into Citi Field for a cold Sunday night October game.

Terry Collins sent another one of his pitching studs to the mound, as Noah Syndergaard (9-7 / 3.68 ERA / 166 Ks) went up against Chicago's possible Cy Young winner; Jake Arrieta (22-6 / 1.77 ERA / 236 Ks)

The Mets got to the Cubs ace right off the bat. Curtis Granderson singled to right field (his tenth hit of the post season) & David Wright hit a long double over centerfielder Dexter Fowlers head.

 It was just Wrights second hit of the post season, his first since Game #1 of the NLDS. Then the MVP of New York City over the past couple of weeks stepped in & did it again. Daniel Murphy hit a HR to right field putting the Mets up 3-0.

The last time Arrieta allowed three runs in an inning was back in July, also the last time he suffered a loss. Tonight at Citi he had no idea what hit him!

Trivia: It was Murph's fourth straight post season game with a HR, a Mets record. It was his 5th post season HR tying Mike Piazza for another Mets post season record. Murph did it in seven games where as it took Piazza 22 games to do it- Amazing! Murph now has ten hits, eight RBI's & seven runs scored this post season. He capped off his night with an 8th inning single as well.

Murph has had one of the best seven game post season spans in MLB history, while doing it off some of the games best pitchers.

In the home 3rd, Curtis Granderson continued his consistent solid play. He drew a walk & then stole second as well as third base. Remember this is a Mets team that was last in stolen bases, they stole four bases in the first two NLCS games.

After Arrieta intentionally walked Murphy, Yoenis Cespedes singled in the hole at short stop & Granderson scampered home with his second run scored. 4-1 Mets.

Back in the 2nd, "the Grandyman" made a leaping catch stealing a HR away from Chris Coughlan. He has done it all, everywhere on the field.

Tonight on the mound for the Mets it was Noah Syndergaard's turn to show off his stuff. In the 1st he started out the game with a strike out & ended the inning striking out Anthony Rizzo.

In the 3rd he gave up a walk but also struck out the rest of  the batters in the inning. Thor then rolled through the next two inning, retiring the sides in order with two more K's.

In the 6th he gave up two hits including an RBI double to Chris Bryant. Terry Collins came out & removed him, as he exited to a huge ovation. Noah went 5.2 innings, one run on three hits, one walk & nine strike outs.

Jonathon Niese made his first post season appearance & struck out
Anthony Rizzo to end any hope of a Chicago threat.

The Mets got good relief efforts from, Addison Reed & Tyler Clippard leading the way for Jeruys Familia. In the 9th the Cubs got a base runner, after Familia did not cover first on a bouncer to Lucas Duda.

It was just the second hit he allowed in this post season.  Familia closed out the Cubs & got the save.

Trivia: Familia now has the most saves in Mets post season history (4) passing Tug McGraw, Billy Wagner & Armando Benitez.

Mets win 4-1 taking a commanding two nothing series lead, on their way to Wrigley Field with Jacob deGrom looming......................................

Remembering Mets History (2015): NLCS Game #1: The Dark Knight Shines In Gotham

Saturday October 17th, 2015: NLCS Game #1- Citi Field-  Queens, New York

They were the young teams that were possibly a year away. The Mets have the young pitching, The Cubs the young hitting. But things happened a lot quicker.

Both teams caught fire as the season went on, both teams won their NLDS series & here we are. The future is now, the New York Mets & the Chicago Cubs are here in the NLCS, the last two teams standing in the National League.

A crowd of 44,287 came out to a chilly 45 degree night at Citi Field in Queens, New York. Mets legend Keith Hernandez threw out the first pitch & it was on to the start of the Mets eighth NLCS series in team history.

In Game #1 the Mets Terry Collins sent "the Dark Knight" Matt Harvey to the mound, in the biggest game of his young career. The visiting Cubs Joe Maddon sent veteran Jon Lester to the mound. Two managers that have a history together & two Managers that are both top favorites to win the NL Manager of the Year Awards.

Tonight Matt Harvey proved he is the big game pitcher everyone thought he was. Tonight he cleared up any doubt or any animosity any Mets fan (including this one) had against him after the whole 180 inning fiasco. Matt Harvey stepped up in the national spot light & gave a big time post season performance.

It was his longest outing since August, he went into the 8th inning, pitching 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He walked just two & struck out nine. He took a line drive off his shoulder, picked it up & threw out the base runner as well. He even had a rare successful sacrifice bunt, quite a night for the Dark Knight.

Everyone was talking about the Mets pitching & the Cubs bats. Tonight it was ablout the Mets pitching & the Mets bats, although not a huge offensive night it was certainly enough. Matt Harvey is now 23-1 when the Mets score four runs or more.

In the 1st, once again it was that man- Daniel Murphy, blasting a solo shot off Jon Lester. Murph became the first Met, since Donn Clendenon in the 1969 World Series, to hit HRs in three straight post season games.

The Cubs tied it in the 5th after Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch & long fly ball went over Juan Lagares' head. The Cubs tried to score again, as Starlin Castro tested Yoenis Cespedes' arm by trying to score on a Javier Baez base hit. He was nailed by Cespedes who even if he isn't hitting, still make an impact.

But the Mets came right back, with one out Wilmer Flores & Juan Lagares singled. Harvey's unsuccessful sacrifice bunt got Flores out at third.  But then "the Grandyman"; Curtis Granderson singled, scoring Lagares with one of his two runs on the night.

In the home 6th, Met catcher Travis d'Arnaud launched a long HR to dead centerfield bouncing off the HR Apple. Right on cue the Apple rose as Citi Faithful roared.

The Mets chipped away with their fourth run, including one in each of the last three innings, with some more good base running from Juan Lagares.

Lagares led off with a base hit & moved over to second on Matt Harvey's sac bunt. Lagares then stole third, the second Mets stolen base of the night. That's a lot for a team that is last in the NL in thefts. Lagares' stolen base paid off, as "the Grandyman" came through once again hitting a sac fly to left field scoring Lagares.

Trivia: Granderson is an incredible 89%, at bringing home a runner from third base with less than two outs.

With two outs in the 8th, Terry Collins took the ball from Matt Harvey after he served up a HR to Kyle Schwarber.

Jeurys Familia got the four save out, the game ending fittingly on a sparkling play at second from Murph.

Trivia: The base hit Familia gave up in the 9th inning was the first hit he allowed in the post season.

Mets win Game One 4-2, take a one game series lead.

Remebering Mets History (2015): NLDS Game #5 Mets Advance to NLCS

October 15th 2015: Dodger Stadium- Los Angeles, California

A sell out of 54,602 came to Southern California for a classic. The series was tied at 2-2 as the Dodgers surprised the Mets with a 3-1 win in Game #4 at Citi Field on Tuesday, a game centerfieldmaz was at.

In the decisive Game #5 the Mets manager; Terry Collins sent Jacob deGrom (the Game #1 winner) to the mound to face Zack Greinke (the Game #2 winner).

In the top of the 1st inning, Curtis Granderson reached on a challenged overturned call where he beat out a ground ball to Justin Turner. Daniel Murphy the offensive star of the game, then doubled to left field bringing in Grandy with the games 1st run.

In the bottom of the 1st the Dodgers answered right back, singles by Cory Seager, Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner & Andre Either made it 2-1 L.A. From there Jacob deGrom struck out Yasmani Grandal & Enrique Hernandez.

This would be what geGrom had to do all night, work his way out of trouble. 57 of his 107 pitches were made with runners in scoring position.

deGrom fought with two men on in the 2nd & 3rd innings but got out of trouble both times. In the third he got Hernandez to ground to the mound & the pitcher turned a double play 1-5-3. After giving up a lead off walk in the 4th, deGrom retired the next three batters ending the inning striking out Seager. 

In the top of the 4th, Daniel Murphy singled to lead off the inning. As Lucas Duda drew a one out walk, Murph made one of the biggest plays of the series.

It came on the base paths, as the shift was all on the right side of the infield for Duda, no one was covering third base.

As Duda walked Murph took second & dashed over to third safely.  Its what Met broadcaster Howie Rose called "probably the most famous stolen base in Mets history."

Quotes- Daniel Murphy: "Just trying to casually walk to second and hoping that nobody called time because, I look like an idiot if somebody calls time and I run to third. I'm not sure who was supposed to cover, but there was nobody there. I'm not the fleetest of foot, but just fast enough for that one."

It was a huge Dodger blunder, coming at a very big moment the decisive NLDS Game #5. The next batter Travis d'Arnaud, hit a fly ball to right field, Murph safely scampered home with the tying run, 2-2 ball game.

In the 5th Justin Turner doubled for the second time, but was stranded on second after Either popped out & deGrom struck out Yasmani Grandal to end the inning.

In the 6th, Murphy came through once again, hitting a solo HR, his third HR of the series, his second off of Greinke. This was to be the game winner, as the Mets went on to the 3-2 win.

Quotes: "We went back and forth the whole at-bat. He has just a good changeup he locates so well. I got 3-2 right there and I finally got a heater in the zone I was looking in all night. Middle-in, I was able to keep it fair." "What a team win, It felt like everybody got a piece of this one."

Murph would have three of the Mets seven hits on the night, driving in two runs & scoring two runs as well.

In the 7th, an inning which has been a problem for the Mets, Terry Collins brought in Noah Syndrgaard, despite saying before the game he would not use him.

Noah got Howie Kendrick to ground out, then walked Adrian Gonzales. He then reared back & struck out Adrian Gonzales & "Gingerman" Justin Turner. A simple spectacular performance.

Collins then called upon Jeurys Familia to do something he did not do all year & that was to get a six out save. In the 8th Either grounded out, Carl Crawford lined out & Jimmy Rollins easily grounded out to first, bye bye Jimmy!

In the 9th he actually got an at bat, and struck out with two on. But he was in there for the bottom of the 9th. He first sent pinch hitter Chase Utley to the showers as he lined out.

Next Familia took care of business striking out AJ Ellis & Howie Kendrick.

That was it, the Mets took the game 3-2 & took the series 3-2. They advance to the franchise's eighth NLCS in team history to face Chicago Cubs.

Quotes- Manager Terry Collins: "We have a tough game, something doesn't go right, we bounce back. We've done it all year long. We have tremendous heart. There is nothing else to say. We have some young guys and veteran guys. They meshed together. It's been a blast."