Up until Tuesday, the Cardinals had won five straight division series titles while facing elimination. Arrieta was confident, but did not last the entire game.
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Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs celebrates with fans after the Chicago Cubs defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4. The Cubs went 7-0 against them this season – including a four-game sweep at Wrigley in mid-May – their first season series sweep of the Mets in Cubs history.
Asked how significant it was for the fans that the Cubs had finally clinched a postseason series at Wrigley Field, Rizzo replied: “They deserve it. They deserve it. Hopefully this is just a taste of what’s going to come”. “Just a collection of skill and fight and character just all the way across the board”.
Naturally, he singled to center to score the Cubs’ first run.
Chicago relievers Fernando Rodney and Clayton Richard combined to blank St. Louis in the seventh. Russell whacked a pulse-stopping triple in Game 3 and knocked in the go-ahead run in Game 2 with a well-timed squeeze play.
Much of a raucous, towel-waving crowd of 42,411 lingered as manager Joe Maddon posed for a selfie with his wife, and Jon Lester sprayed champagne with his young son. You have to continue to work the process. “From the beginning to the end the bullpen was fabulous”. “Up and down, we were all wonderful”.
Before we get started, do you see that baseball in the picture above?
The Cardinals had reached the NLCS in the last four years.
Asked who will be the next hero for the Cubs, Maddon said during the victory celebration: “Stay tuned, man. They’ve all been playing, they are all part of the ownership group here”. In all, Chicago has scored 15 of 20 playoff runs from homers. They also moved into the championship series for the first time since 2003. On the next pitch, Javier Baez lashed an opposite-field, three-run homer to the seats in right.
Everyone was wondering where Kyle Schwarber’s monster home run landed – or if it ever landed – Tuesday night. The game was scoreless heading into the second inning. Wainwright threw two flawless innings. The Cards eventually tied it in the sixth before Anthony Rizzo smashed a go-ahead solo shot in the bottom of the inning. Cardinals starting pitcher John Lackey had seemingly ended a Cubs threat by striking out Cubs catcher Miguel Montero for the second out of the second inning.
St. Louis equalized in the sixth after Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta hit back-to-back singles.
NOTES: Cardinals C Yadier Molina was a late scratch Tuesday due to a sore thumb.
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Chicago fans around the world were ecstatic as they watched their Cubs achieving a feat that was a long time in the making. And more notably, never before had these Cubs got the job done at their iconic ballpark, Wrigley Field, established over a 100 years ago.
