Written by Joe Lucia at Bloguin
The monkey is off the back of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-4 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday night, winning the series 3-1. It’s the first playoff series that the team has ever won at Wrigley Field, and just the second playoff series since 1908 (with the other coming in the 2003 NLDS against the Braves).
Almost immediately, the air was taken out of Wrigley Field. Matt Carpenter singled off of Jason Hammel to lead off the game, and Stephen Piscotty followed up with a two-run homer, staking the NL Central champions to a 2-0 lead. John Lackey set the Cubs down in order in the first, and it looked like Chicago could be in for a long day.
In the second, the Cubs woke up. Anthony Rizzo led off with an infield single, and Kyle Schwarber followed up with a single after Starlin Castro grounded into a fielder’s choice. Miguel Montero struck out for out number two, but Hammel shocked the hell out of everyone by drilling the first pitch he saw from Lackey up the middle to bring Castro home and make it a 2-1 game. Lackey’s next pitch was smashed into the right field bleachers by Javier Baez, giving the Cubs a 4-2 lead and sending Wrigley into pandemonium.
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