Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda powered the Mets past the Cubs on Wednesday to complete a four-game sweep in the NL Championship Series.
The Mets are in the World Series for the first time since 2000, while Cubs fans will have to wait another year — their 108th — to see their team do the same.
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Here are our five takeaways from Game 4:
1. Lucas Duda makes his presence felt. Better late than never. Heading into Game 4, Duda was 3 for his last 34 at the plate with zero home runs and one RBI. But that all changed Wednesday when Duda drove in five runs in the first two innings, becoming just the fifth Mets player to record five RBIs in a postseason game.
Earlier in the series, Duda was benched for Michael Cuddyer because of his career struggles against Cubs starter Jon Lester. The move was controversial because Duda has been one of the Mets' best hitters over the last two seasons, and he showed it in Game 4.
2. The Mets' pitching staff is already the best in MLB. The average age of the four pitchers the Mets have used to start games this postseason is 25. Jacob deGrom, who is 3-0 during the playoffs, is the oldest at 27. Despite their youth and inexperience, the Mets' starters have displayed the composure to deal with stressful situations and perform against the best teams.
Matt Harvey, 26, was questionable to pitch this postseason after racking up 189 1/3 innings during the regular season, his first since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Noah Syndergaard, 23, and Steven Matz, 24, the Game 4 starter, were called up during the season and pitched well enough to earn a spot in the postseason rotation. If New York can keep that group's contracts in order, it could have one of the best rotations baseball has ever seen.
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3. Daniel Murphy makes history. Murphy hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning Wednesday to become the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in six consecutive postseason games, surpassing Carlos Beltran. After hitting just 14 home runs during the regular season, Murphy has seven in the playoffs. Something clearly has clicked for New York's second baseman.
What's more, Murphy hit his first four home runs off Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Lester and Jake Arrieta. That's the top three pitchers in the NL during the regular season and one of the most experienced playoff pitchers heading into the postseason. Unfortunately for Mets fans, Murphy may have just priced himself out of the team's budget with this flurry of home runs, especially if it wants to re-sign Yoenis Cespedes.
4. The Curse of the Billy Goat lives on. The Cubs have not made it to the World Series since 1945, when tavern owner Billy Sianis supposedly placed a curse on the organization for refusing to let his billy goat enter Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost that series, and haven't won the World Series since 1908, the longest active streak in MLB.
The Curse of the Billy Goat struck again in 2003 when Steve Bartman reached out and deflected a fly ball that Moises Alou was trying to catch late in Game 6 of the NLCS. Alou reacted angrily, causing Bartman to flee into hiding when he started receiving death threats after the Cubs lost the series. On the bright side, the Cubs boast arguably the best young lineup in MLB and could make a another run next year.
If only they had just let that poor little goat into the stadium . . .
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5. "Back to the Future Part II" got it wrong. But it sure was close. The 1989 flick predicted the Cubs would win the World Series, as Marty McFly traveled to the future and saw a billboard over a baseball stadium flashing "Way to go Cubbies." The date: Oct. 21, 2015. That's right, McFly witnessed the Cubs celebrating a World Series championship — in the movie — on the same day the Cubs — in real life — were swept out of the postseason.
How fitting the Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs one step away from reaching the World Series while "Back to the Future Day" was a worldwide trending topic.
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We blame the goat.
What's Next: The Mets will take on the Royals or the Blue Jays in the World Series beginning Oct. 27.