Mets Sweep Cubs Behind Murphy Home Runs, Mattingly Leaves Dodgers
On Wednesday night the New York Mets finished off the Chicago Cubs in their National League Championship Series in a four-game sweep.
The Mets will now await the winner of the ALCS between the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays. The Royals lead that series 3-2 after Toronto won Game 5 on Wednesday.
Daniel Murphy the second baseman for the Mets has seen his home run barrage become historic.
Following the sweep Wednesday night by the Mets, Murphy was awarded the MVP of the NLCS.
In the eighth inning, Murphy hit a home run to cap the scoring for the Mets in their 8-3 win that clinched the NL pennant.
Murphy set a new major league record for home runs in six consecutive postseason games, which snapped a tie with Carlos Beltran.
Murphy after the game said he could not figure out why he keeps hitting the long ball but it is a nice feeling. He will be a free agent following this season and his postseason run could help him to land a nice paycheck somewhere in the league if not with the Mets.
Murphy was quick to point out that the team keeps winning games, which is more important than his personal achievements.
The Mets second baseman joined the late Lou Gehrig as the only two players with 7 straight postseason games with a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
The home run by Murphy came off Fernando Rodney a reliever for the Cubs and gave New York a lead of 8-1.
Murphy is the second Mets player in is franchise history to earn the NLCS MVP honors. In 2000, Mike Hampton won the award for the Mets.
In the series, Murphy hit .529 with 9 hits in 17 at bats with 4 home runs, a double and six runs batted in.Mattingly Leaves Dodgers
Wire reports early Thursday morning report that manager Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed mutually to part ways.
According to the report, Mattingly had a year remaining on his contract and sources have said that he was offered an extension by the Dodgers last weekend.
However, after years of much uncertainty about the commitment of the team to him as their manager of the future, he informed team officials this week that he preferred to leave the team.
Mattingly is 54 and was hired to manage the Dodgers in 2011 to replace the retiring Joe Torre. The team in his four seasons had a .550 winning percentages during the regular season. He led the team to three straight National League West titles, which is a first for the franchise.
However, the team never advanced out of the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons, even with baseball’s highest payroll.
