CHICAGO -- Daniel Murphy homered in his record sixth straight postseason game and the New York Mets reached the World Series for the first time in 15 years, beating the Chicago Cubs 8-3 Wednesday night for a playoff sweep.
Manager Terry Collins' team never trailed for a single inning in taking all four games in the NL Championship Series.
New York, seeking its first title since 1986, will play Game 1 of the World Series at either Kansas City or Toronto on Tuesday night. The Royals lead the AL Championship Series 3-2.
Murphy broke the postseason mark set by Houston's Carlos Beltran in 2004 with a two-run drive in the eighth inning.
Lucas Duda homered and drove in five runs. Travis d'Arnaud also connected as the Mets advanced to their first World Series since 2000.
Kris Bryant homered for Chicago, but a championship drought dating to 1908 continues. Joe Maddon's young team had many believing this might be the year, but the Cubs did little against the Mets' fresh aces (see full recap).
Blue Jays cut Royals' series lead to 3-2 with win
TORONTO -- Marco Estrada took the mound with one task: save the season for the Toronto Blue Jays.
MLB
He did it, pitching one-hit ball into the eighth inning to give Toronto's tattered bullpen a rest, and the Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 Wednesday to close to 3-2 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
"It's the start that we needed," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "They're a great team over there. We know that. But this guy kept them off balance and allowed the offense to settle in and get some runs."
Tulowitzki provided three of those runs. He broke the game open with a bases-clearing double off Kelvin Herrera in the sixth, giving him seven RBIs in the series. Edwin Encarnacion had walked with the bases loaded against Edinson Volquez, who seemed flustered by a couple of close calls against the Royals.
Kansas City totaled 22 runs and 30 hits in the first two games in Toronto, but Estrada faced the minimum 20 batters before Lorenzo Cain walked with two outs in the seventh. Closer Roberto Osuna was perfect in the ninth.
Yordano Ventura will start for the defending AL champions on Friday in Game 6 against David Price, the Game 2 loser (see full recap).