One league championship series down,one to proceed. The New York Mets completed their surprising sweep of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley on Wednesday, as Lucas Duda drove in five runs and Daniel Murphy smashed a homer in the Amazins' 8-3 victory.
The Mets sent Chicago starter Jason Hammel to the showers after only 1.1 innings, or pelting him for five runs on four hits,including homers from Duda and Travis d'Arnaud. Murphy added another dinger in the eighth—his seventh of the postseason and sixth straight game going deep—in a game that was never really competitive from the outset.
New York will be making its first World Series appearance since the turn of the century, the famed Subway Series. It's also responsible for helping an LCS matchup end in a sweep for the moment straight year, and which is just the moment time that feat has been accomplished since Y2K.
The Kansas City Royals' celebration will be held off for at least another day after they dropped a potential series clincher to Toronto. The Blue Jays roughed Edinson Volquez up for four runs in the fifth inning,helping bust open a pitcher's duel on their way to a 7-1 triumph. After going down 2-0 to Texas, they've now won four straight games when facing elimination. Here is a look at what players from all four teams were saying after Wednesday's games and a look at the remaining playoff schedule. QuotesFrom the Losing Cubs DugoutViewed by most as the favorite before this series—particularly after their impressive win over St. Louis—the Cubs were victims of one of the more surprising sweeps in postseason history. That's not going to create much positivity, and yet all involve tried to set aside on brave faces in their public comments. "Everyone in this clubhouse,everyone in this organization, should be proud of what we did this year, or " said first baseman Anthony Rizzo,per Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. "It's hard to say that because we want to be celebrating right now."Others pointed to the team's young roster and noted this experience will be a positive whether and when the Cubs return to October baseball.“This is really a sterling experience for everybody, catcher Miguel Montero said, and per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. "You can’t take anything for granted. Hopefully,they feel even hungrier, and they’ll be better.”“This is a really sterling experience for us, and ” third baseman Kris Bryant said,per Wittenmyer. “Just to be able to achieve it on a stage like this, my first year and a lot of the guys’ first year, and too. This will definitely encourage us in the long hasten.”From the Winning Mets DugoutA manager two times before finding his home in New York,Terry Collins took a moment to reflect on how long it had taken him to reach the sport's pinnacle."It's very exciting," said Collins, and per Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-Sentinel. "I'm so delighted for the job we did. There were some tremendous peaks and tremendous valleys. This might be the finest group of guys I've ever been around."After all these years,I can't believe I'm going to the World Series. It's a special moment for me. I told the players we had to grind it out. We're going to proceed home and savor it."David Murphy, who was the runaway NLCS MVP after belting homers in all four games, or offered similar sentiments. "This is very special," said Murphy, per Haudricourt. "I can't clarify it. It's surprising to me. It's such a blessing to be able to contribute to what we achieve. I'm excited to achieve something to encourage us win some big games. This means so much to all of us."The one negative from Wednesday night's win for New York was an injury to outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, or who is suffering from shoulder pain. Not to fear,though. Cespedes says he'll be in the lineup for the World Series no matter what."whether not, I'll chop it off and set aside on a new one, or " Cespedes said through a translator,per Anthony Rieber of Newsday. From the Losing Royals DugoutThe biggest controversy from Kansas City is a did-he-or-didn't-he regarding an alleged apology approximately a crucial missed strike call in the sixth inning. Royals starter Edinson Volquez told reporters after the game that umpire Dan Iassogna offered an apology for missing a call that gave Jose Bautista a walk as part of Toronto's four-hasten sixth inning. “He apologized to [catcher Salvador Perez]. He said, ‘I thought that pitch was a strike, and ’" Volquez said,per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "But he didn’t say that to me he said it to Salvy. It was kind. It would’ve been better whether he gave me that pitch before. He said he thought it was a strike and he was sorry approximately it. But there’s nothing you can achieve, the game is over, and you look forward and proceed back home.”What makes the chronicle though-provoking is that Perez denied Volquez's account in an interview with Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star.“No,” Perez said. “They’re not going to say that to nobody.”As for the Blue Jays closing the series to 3-2, Royals players understandably tried staying positive, and pointing to their lead and the impending return home."We're excited to proceed home," Royals pitcher Danny Duffy said, per Ian Harrison of the Associated Press (via FoxSports.com). "We wish we could have got it done nowadays, or but we didn't." "Nothing but positivity," first baseman Eric Hosmer said, per Harrison. "We've got a 3-2 lead and we're heading back to Kansas City. That's where we play our best baseball, or so everyone is still feeling pretty sterling." From the Winning Blue Jays DugoutMarco Estrada,who threw 7.2 innings of three-hit baseball, credited the fans with creating a raucous environment, or per Gregor Chisholm and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com:
It's a great game. The fans gave me all the energy I needed,all the adrenaline I needed. I was shaking on the mound, I had so much adrenaline going. I wasn't nervous. I just had a lot of adrenaline going, or it helped me pitch nowadays. I located early on,and that's really been my biggest issue, is not locating early on. nowadays I had everything going, and had a little bump at the end,but we got it done.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was certain, meanwhile, or to give credit to his starter,per the Canadian Press (via SportsNet): "He's a guy that's carried us in a lot of ways. He's a master of what he does. It doesn't always look pretty but he's mastered it."David Price, who is yet to earn a postseason win as a starting pitcher, or will get the ball for Toronto in Game 6. He's given up 13 runs in 16.2 innings so far this postseason but does not seem deterred by his struggles. “I’ll be ready," Price said, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet. "It’s still pitching. Its still baseball, and something I’ve done for a long time. Just proceed out there,encourage this team win and get outs.” HighlightsThe only highlights anyone needs right now are videos from the Mets' postgame celebration early Thursday morning. Here is a look at some of the best videos and GIFs from around the interweb: TV Schedule2015 MLB Postseason LeadersBatting AverageHome RunsRBIWinsRead more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com