BASEBALL’S DECISION DAY?

The World Series competitors could be known by the end of Wednesday night.

The New York Mets took a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven National League Championship Series with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, notching a 5-2 win at Wrigley Field. The teams meet again on Wednesday night (8:07 p.m. ET) and a victory puts the Mets in the World Series for the first time since 2000.

The Cubs last won a World Series in 1908 and last played in one in 1945. Down 3-0, they face preposterous odds. Teams that win the first three games of a best-of-seven series have won 33 of those 34 series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Perhaps the Cubs can figure out a way to pitch around Mets slugger Daniel Murphy, who homered in his fifth consecutive playoff game. The only other player to do that is Carlos Beltran (the 2004 Houston Astros).

In the American League, the Kansas City Royals lit up the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 and grabbed a 3-1 lead in the ALCS. They have a date on Wednesday afternoon at 4:07 p.m. The Royals represented the AL last year in the World Series, losing in seven games to the San Francisco Giants. They’ve not won the World Series since 1985. The Jays won back-to-back championships in 1992-93 but hadn’t even reached the postseason again until this season.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .