Monday was a historic night at Wrigley Field, in more ways than one.
The Cubs beat the Cardinals to earn their first postseason win in Chicago since 2003, they smashed an MLB-postseason-record six home runs and Jorge Soler became the first player in MLB history to reach base safely in his first nine postseason plate appearances.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, the previous record was five, most recently achieved by Johnny Damon in 2001.
Soler, one of four rookies to start for the Cubs Monday night, went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks in each of Chicago’s wins in the NLDS.
He drew a walk in his only plate appearance in Game 1.
Soler’s two-run homer in the sixth gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead. The Cardinals hadn’t allowed even five home runs in a postseason game since Game 4 of the 1928 World Series against the Yankees.
Babe Ruth hit three of the five home runs.
Jorge Soler 2 run HR to make it 7-4 Cubs https://t.co/9tgegceftm
— Jacob Mann (@Jacob___Mann) October 13, 2015
In addition, the Cubs are the third team in the live-ball era to have the first six batters in their lineup all hit a home run. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the other teams to do so were the New York Mets in August of this season, and the 1954 New York Giants.
Listen to Pat Hughes and Len Kasper call all 6 Cubs home runs from Game 3Game 4 is today at 3:37 p.m.