Chicago Cubs swept by Mets in NLCS; Impressive 2015 season ends

Cubs unexpected run ends at the hands of the Mets in sweep

It’s natural to be upset about the Chicago Cubs finish to this 2015 season. An 8-3 loss to the New York Mets finished it off, and it was a series that the Cubs looked like anything but themselves. The team that came into the playoffs on fire, garnering praise and being called the favorites by some fell flat. Those that remember 1969 aren’t going to sleep well. Mr. Met will haunt their dreams tonight. It’s a disappointing finish to a fantastic campaign.

The Cubs rotation was expected to ride Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester to wins, and then ride the offense with whoever else was on the mound. That wasn’t the case, and in Game 4, with Lester unavailable Maddon turned to Jason Hammel. Shellshocked? Can we agree that’s how it felt? I don’t think many expected Hammel to pitch deep into the game, but we really needed more than 1 1/3 innings. A three-run home run by Lucas Duda followed by a solo shot from Travis d’Arnaud and it was quickly 4-0 with your heart in your stomach.

It never got much better from there. The Cubs has their chances against Mets starter Steven Matz. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Starlin Castro rifled a liner towards third that David Wright leaped up and made the grab. It may have been the defining play of the game. Kyle Schwarber followed with an RBI groundout, but the bases loaded rally ended with just one run tallied.

The eight inning saw the game get away from the Cubs for good as Daniel Murphy continued his break from reality with a home run in his sixth straight playoff game. The two-run homer put the Mets up 8-1 and crushed much of the hope that was left in Cubs’ fans.

Kris Bryant finally broke out of his slump with a two-run home run of his own in the eighth, but that simply cancelled out Murphy’s and still left the Cubs down five.

Jeurys Familia closed the door on the Cubs in the ninth in a non-save situation to send the Mets to their first World Series since 2000, and leaving the Cubs to “wait till next year.”

The good news is that next year looks promising, as this year was SUPPOSED to be next year. Five rookies played a massive role in this season, and now they have the experience of a playoff run to look back on. The season is over, but now the fun begins, and we’ll be covering every bit of it throughout the offseason. Don’t hang your heads Cubs fans, this was a ride to remember.

Next: Don't be sad Cubs fans, this is just the beginning