>>Cubs Hit Six HRs, Blast Cardinals For Series Lead

Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber connected as the Cubs set a postseason mark with six home runs and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-6 on Monday for a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
Jake Arrieta struck out nine before departing in the sixth inning, and the bullpen finished the job in the first playoff game at Wrigley Field in seven years.

Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler also went deep for Chicago.

A third straight win for the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon, and the once woebegone franchise will advance to the NLCS for the first time in 12 years.

The Cardinals, who led the majors with 100 wins this season, have won at least one playoff series in each of the last four years.

Jason Hammel starts at home in Game 4. John Lackey, who won the opener, pitches for the Cardinals.

Jason Heyward and Stephen Piscotty homered for St. Louis, which got to Arrieta for four runs in his worst start in four months. But the Cardinals were unable to keep the Cubs in the ballpark.

St. Louis trailed 8-4 before Piscotty hit a two-run shot with two out in the ninth, a scary moment for a towel-waving crowd of 42,411 used to playoff heartache. But Hector Rondon retired Matt Holliday on a harmless bouncer to second, and the party was on.

Schwarber, Castro and Bryant homered against Michael Wacha in his first playoff appearance since he threw the final pitch of the 2014 postseason for the Cardinals, a game-ending, three-run shot for Travis Ishikawa in the NLCS against the Giants.

Bryant's two-run drive made it 4-2 with one out in the fifth and chased Wacha in favor of Kevin Siegrist. But Rizzo followed another long ball, a drive to right for his first hit of the playoffs.

Even Adam Wainwright got into the act, serving up Soler's two-run shot in the sixth. Soler, who struggled with injuries for much of the year, is 4 for 4 with two homers, four RBIs and five walks in the series. He is the first player in major league history to reach safely in his first nine postseason plate appearances.

Cubs shortstop Addison Russell left in the fourth with tightness in his left hamstring. He said he is day to day.

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina winced on a swing-and-miss in the fourth inning, and then was checked on by a trainer and Matheny. Molina missed the last part of the regular season due to a strained ligament in his left thumb. Piscotty and second baseman Kolten Wong were shaken up after a collision in foul territory in the fifth.

>>Harvey Not Sharp But Mets Blast Dodgers, Take Series Lead

Curtis Granderson drove in five runs with two doubles off the wall, Travis d'Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes homered, and New York's dangerous bats busted loose for a 13-7 victory Monday night that gave the Mets a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five NL playoff.

Before a bloodthirsty crowd of 44,276 in the first postseason game at Citi Field, the Mets broke their postseason scoring record as public enemy No. 1 Chase Utley watched from the Los Angeles bench. New York quickly erased an early three-run deficit and made a winner of a mediocre Matt Harvey in his playoff debut.

Back in the postseason for the first time in nine years, New York can reach the NL Championship Series with another win at home Tuesday night behind rookie pitcher Steven Matz.

Clayton Kershaw has dropped five consecutive postseason decisions, the longest skid in Dodgers history. He was outpitched by Jacob deGrom in a 3-1 defeat at Los Angeles in the series opener.

Left-hander Steven Matz is a hometown favorite after growing up on Long Island about 50 miles from Citi Field. He went 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in six major league starts this season but hasn't pitched since Sept. 24 because of a balky back.