The Cubs took a 2-to-1 lead in the best of five NLDS on Monday night. And on a night the hottest pitcher in the game was off, the offense picked up Jake Arrieta and outslugged the Cardinals. The Cubs recorded six of the 21 home runs that were hit on a record-setting day in the four post-season games Monday.
The six home runs accounted for all eight of the runs Joe Maddon’s team put on the old scoreboard in the 8-6 victory.
Game 4 of the NLDS is Tuesday afternoon (3:37pm CDT). Jason Hammel gets the ball and will take on John Lackey. The Cardinals are looking for Lackey to dominate the Cubs on short rest and send the series back to St. Louis.
Home Runs and More Home Runs
The Cubs made history Monday at the old ballyard. The Cubs became the first team to hit six home runs in a single post-season game. And the six homers were hit by six different players batting 1-6 in Joe Maddon’s lineup.
Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Kyle Schwarber all went deep Monday. According to Bruce Levine, the bat Dexter Fowler used to hit the Cubs’ sixth longball was given to the Hall of Fame.
It was just the third time in the Live Ball Era that hitters 1-6 in a lineup hit homers in the same game. The Cubs joined the Mets (2015) and Giants (1954).
Kyle Schwarber started the historic night of homers for the Cubs with a solo shot into the basket in left center. At the time he hit the longball, Schwarber became the first Cubs’ rookie with two home runs in the post-season. Jorge Soler joined Schwarber and became the second Cubs’ rookie with two longballs in the post-season when he took Adam Wainwright deep in the sixth inning.
Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant are the youngest set of three teammates ever to hit home runs in the same post-season. Schwarber and Bryant joined Frank Demaree (1932) as the only three players in franchise history to make his Major League debut and hit a home run in the post-season in the same season.
Five of the six players that hit home runs Monday night were 26 years old or younger. The Cubs set a record for the most homers hit in a single post-season game by players 26 years old or younger. Before Monday, no team “had more than three players age 26 of younger homer in a post-season game” according to Katie Sharp.
Reports from Game 3 of NLDS
On a night Jake Arrieta did not have it, the Cubs found a way to beat the Cardinals in Game 3 of the NLDS. It took an historic night with all eight runs scoring on six home runs to take a 2-1 lead in the best of five series.
Here are the reports from Game 3 …
- ESPN Chicago: The Cubs recognized the work of the development staff before Game 3 of the NLDS
- Comcast SportsNet: Joe Maddon’s playoff vision for the Cubs comes to life at Wrigley
- Comcast SportNet: Jake Arrieta is human against Cardinals … but Cubs are that good
- ESPN Chicago: Bullpen, offense pick up Jake Arrieta in Game 3 win by Cubs
- ESPN Chicago: Cubs’ first playoff win at Wrigley since 2003 means anything’s possible now
- Comcast SportsNet: Rizzo, Bryant get the post-season monkey off their backs
- ESPN Jayson Stark: Cubs’ historic slugging rocks Wrigley Field in Game 3 win
- The Sun-Times: Rookies help put Cubs on brink of clinching series
Jason Hammel
Jason Hammel is starting Game 4 and will face John Lackey. The Cardinals are bringing Lackey back on three days rest.
Joe Maddon will not hold back Tuesday. The Cubs do not want to go back to St. Louis. Maddon will use his bullpen early and often of necessary.
The Cubs have Jon Lester scheduled for Game 5 if the series goes to a fifth game. Maddon said Monday that regardless of Monday’s outcome Lester would not come back on short rest.
The first half, pre-hamstring injury Jason Hammel has a chance to make a statement this afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Addison Russell
Addison Russell’s status for Game 4 is unknown but based on his history with hamstring problems it would be a surprise if he was in the starting lineup. Russell told the beat writers that the hamstring injury that wiped out most of his 2014 season was a 10, what he felt Monday was a 1.5 or a 2 on the same scale.
Russell received treatment and said he felt better after the game but was unsure if he would be able to play Tuesday. Russell is hoping to play.
The Cubs will reevaluate Russell on Tuesday morning and decide what is best for him and the team in Game 4.
ESPN Chicago reported Russell did not have an MRI scheduled but the Sun-Times indicated Russell would have an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity of his injury.
Born in the 1990’s
The Cubs had six players that were born in the 1990’s collect at least one hit in Game 3.
- Jorge Soler (Feb. 25, 1992): 2-for-2 with a home run, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored
- Kris Bryant (Jan. 4, 1992): 2-for-5 with a home run, and two RBI
- Starlin Castro (March 24, 1990): 2-for-4 with a home run
- Kyle Schwarber (March 5, 1993): 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk
- Addison Russell (Jan. 23, 1994): 1-for-2 with a triple
- Javier Baez (Dec. 1, 1992): 2-for-2
- Anthony Rizzo was born in 1989 (Aug. 8) and went 1-for-4 with a home run on Monday night.
Jorge Soler
Jorge Soler played a big role in the Cubs two wins over the Cardinals in the NLDS. Soler was 2-for-2 with a home run, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored on Monday night. Soler is 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, five walks, three runs scored and four RBI in the series.
Jorge Soler is the first player in the history of the game to reach base safely in his first nine post-season plate appearances.
The work he’s done with Manny Ramirez is paying off and Soler has played his way into the lineup for Game 4.
Ryne Sandberg
The Cubs did not announce who would be throwing out the first pitch or sing the Seventh Inning Stretch for Game 3. The Cubs made the perfect choice in both cases.
Ryne Sandberg, wearing an Ernie Banks’ jersey, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. And the Cubs played a video of Ernie Banks singing the stretch on the video board in left field.
News and Notes
• Addison Russell put his name in the Cubs’ history book. On the play that forced him out of the game with tightness in his left hamstring, Russell became the youngest player in franchise history to triple in a post-season game … Addison Russell (21 years, 262 days), Charlie Hollocher (22 years, 87 days) in 1918 and Andy Pafko (24 years, 227 days) in 1945.
• Cameras spotted Trevor Cahill wearing socks with the Dodgers logo on them during Monday’s game. Cahill explained to ESPN Chicago after the game he is wearing those socks “because they’re kind of thicker and prevent blisters and he’s been pitching well with them.”
The Cubs confiscated about 100 counterfeit tickets to Game 3 according to the Sun-Times.
This Day In Cubstory
1977 – Cubs traded Keith Drumright to the Astros for Al Javier
1954 – George Frazier, born
1950 – Dick Pole, born
1949 – Cubs purchased Fred Baczewski from Shreveport for $30,000 plus a PTBNL
1941 – Cubs selected Ed Heusser from Atlanta in the 1941 minor league draft
1929 – Cubs lost 3-2 to Philadelphia after the Athletics scored three runs in the ninth inning to close out the World Series. The A’s won The Series four games to one.
1925 – Cubs signed Joe McCarthy to be the team’s new manager. McCarthy helped rebuild the Cubs during his nearly five years with the organization. McCarthy led the Cubs to the 1929 National League Pennant before he left the team in Sept. 1930. McCarthy took over for the Yankees the following year and skippered the Yankees to eight AL pennants and seven World Series Championships. Bill Dickey replaced McCarthy as Yankees manager in 1946. McCarthy won 2,126 games as a big league manager while losing only 1,335 for a .614 winning percentage, the best winning percentage for a manager in Major League history.
1908 – Mordecai Brown tossed his third shutout in World Series play. The Cubs beat the Tigers 3-0 in game four of the Fall Classic.
1876 – Rube Waddell, born