The Phillies defeated the Braves 10-2 in Game 3 of their Division Series Wednesday in Philadelphia. In so doing they hit six home runs: Two each by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos and one by Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh.
In so doing, the Phillies tied a postseason record that was set by the Cubs in Game 3 of their Division Series against the Cardinals in 2015. That happened eight years ago today, Monday, October 12, 2015, and the Cubs, like the Phillies, put themselves one win away from the NLCS with their 8-6 win.
Here, lightly edited, is my game recap from eight years ago.
Back in 2008, almost everyone who attended the Cubs two Division Series games against the Dodgers remarked about how weird, almost funereal, Wrigley Field seemed those two evenings, not even close to a playoff atmosphere.
Monday night, almost as if to make up for all of that, the old ballyard was loud, boisterous, hopeful and beyond thrilled at the Cubs 8-6 win over the Cardinals that put them one win away from eliminating their arch-rivals from this years postseason.
Read that last part again, please: eliminating their arch-rivals from this years postseason. The players seem to feel this rivalry almost as much as we do as fans; the teams have played tough, close, competitive games all year. Game 3 of the NLDS was no exception, but the Cubs posted the win and in so doing, erased a significant postseason record.
The Cubs crushed six home runs out of Wrigley Field Monday night, breaking a postseason mark previously held by five teams, including the 1984 Cubs. Here are the previous teams to hit five home runs in a postseason game:
And if you think it had been a long time since youd seen any Cubs team hit six home runs in a game at Wrigley Field, youre right nine years, since September 17, 2006, and I include that for amusement value, since that team lost 96 games and this years model... well, theyre a lot better. The first six men in the Cubs lineup Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Kyle Schwarber all went deep, and even though the wind was howling out to right field with occasional gusts over 25 miles per hour, not one of those blasts needed any help from the wind at all.
Schwarber was first, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Jake Arrieta seemed to be sailing along until he got uncharacteristically wild in the fourth, walking the first two batters he faced. He recovered by striking out Jason Heyward, but then Jhonny Peralta doubled in both runners and the Cardinals led 2-1, temporarily silencing the sellout throng.
The Cubs got the run right back in the bottom of the inning on Castros home run. With two out, Addison Russell sliced a ball high off the left-field wall and (somewhat foolishly, I thought) tried to take third [VIDEO].
There were two out it would have taken a hit to score Russell from second base, there was really no need to try for three. Russell suffered what was described as hamstring tightness and I think you can see him take a minor misstep as he rounds second base.
Javier Baez ran for Russell and stayed in the game at shortstop. Baez later made a throwing error (tough error, I thought, that one could have been ruled a hit), but also singled twice.
The Cubs rallied for three runs in the fifth, taking the lead they would never let go of. Soler singled with one out and Bryant and Rizzo went deep back-to-back. The crowd got loud after Bryants homer and though I didnt think it possible, got even louder following Rizzos. I dont know if this comes across well enough on the TV broadcast, but I dont think Ive ever heard Wrigley as loud as it was during that inning. The Cubs got two more baserunners in that inning, but Miguel Montero the only Cubs starter who played the full game and didnt homer struck out to end the rally.
This game was not one of Arrietas finest moments. With a 5-2 lead he allowed a leadoff single in the sixth and then Jason Heyward, who is 8-for-21 vs. Jake in the regular season, launched a homer to left to make it 5-4. Jake struck out the next two hitters and would likely have been allowed to finish the inning, but he hit pinch-hitter Brandon Moss. With Jakes pitch count at 97, Joe Maddon wisely lifted him for Clayton Richard, who needed just two pitches to get Kolten Wong to hit a comebacker to end the inning.
A bit of trivia to interrupt this recap: by appearing in this game, Richard became the fourth player to appear in a postseason game for both Chicago teams. The others: Vance Law, Lance Johnson and Neal Cotts.
In the bottom of the inning, Chris Coghlan, batting for Richard, singled, and one out later Soler hit the Cubs fifth homer of the evening. That made Solers postseason batting line:
Hes the first player in major-league history to reach base in his first nine postseason plate appearances. After that, Jorge was given the rest of the evening off and Coghlan replaced him in right field. A good thing to do, I think, given Solers injuries this year, though he has shown no sign that theyre bothering him at all this October.
So it was up to the Cubs bullpen, which has done a very good job in this series. Trevor Cahill and Travis Wood threw a scoreless seventh, interrupted only by a single by Stephen Piscotty and the aforementioned Baez error. Pedro Strop, whos had trouble with the Cardinals this year (though mostly in St. Louis), threw a 1-2-3 eighth, and then Fowler completed the long-ball barrage with this one that brought the crowd to its loudest [VIDEO].
Too bad the TBS announcers didnt seize the moment. They sounded almost bored on that call.
Here are all six Cubs home runs from this game [VIDEO].
Hector Rondon was the only pitcher warming up during that eighth inning, so he entered to finish up, even though Fowlers homer took the game out of a save situation. He gave up a one-out single and was two strikes away from ending it unscathed when Piscotty yanked a homer into the right-field bleachers to make it 8-6.
Nervous time? Not really. With everyone standing and screaming, Rondon got Matt Holliday to ground to Castro and Wrigley Field exploded in joy [VIDEO].
Again, I dont think you can sense how loud the place was from that clip. Beyond anything I have ever heard.
The Cubs ended another streak Monday evening: This was their first postseason win at Wrigley Field since Game 2 of the 2003 NLCS. Theyd lost five straight Wrigley Field postseason games after that, until Monday. Perhaps this tweet sums up this one best:
I fervently hope that hes right.
Given the odd 5:07 p.m. starting time, the crowd was somewhat late-arriving, but over the last 30 minutes before game time, the park filled up quickly. Unlike regular-season games, very, very few people left their seats at any time. Beer sales must have been down, as I didnt see many in the bleachers going back and forth for drinks, instead wanting to soak in every moment of this one. The announced crowd of 42,411 was the largest for any game at Wrigley Field since the fire department set maximum-capacity rules in 1978. Before that the bleachers were routinely oversold and for some games, fans were allowed to sit in the aisles. Previous post-1978 record: 42,374 on August 20, 2011, also against the Cardinals.
Leaving the ballpark didnt feel any different from leaving any other Cubs win this year. Crowds moved swiftly down Waveland past the vendors yelling $10 shirts! with people slapping high-fives with total strangers, with everyone knowing theres still work to be done, beginning late Tuesday afternoon.
Game 4 begins at 3:37 CT, which means there will be some shadows across the infield when Jason Hammel takes the mound. Jason, pitch the game of your life, please. The Cardinals, facing elimination, are going with Game 1 starter John Lackey. Lackey, who has been very tough on the Cubs all year including that Game 1 start, has not started on three days rest all season, in fact, hasnt done it in 10 years, and that was two teams and one Tommy John surgery ago. Lets hope the short rest will be the key to the Cubs unlocking their offense against Lackey.
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Today in Cubs history: The Cubs set a postseason home run record ... - Bleed Cubbie Blue