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Mets continue doing all the right things in NLCS

Only one team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit and won a League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in 2004.

Theo Epstein was the general manager of those Red Sox, and he is now the Cubs' president. Now, for the bad news.

The odds of Epstein overseeing another miracle run are about as good as Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers batting cleanup for the Cubs against the New York Mets in Game 4 of the NLCS tonight at Wrigley Field.

"The fact we still have an opportunity to come back and do this, of course you think about those things," manager Joe Maddon said after the Cubs lost to the Mets 5-2 in Game 3 Tuesday night at Wrigley. "You think about the parallels, think about the fact that has happened against a New York team. We think about all that stuff, but it's up to us to go out and play and execute."

The Cubs haven't played terribly through the first three games against New York.

Rather, the Mets have simply been the better team, starting with the starting trio of Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, who overcame a sluggish first inning in Game 3 and dominated.

"Being up 3-0, we're very, very fortunate because the Cubs have played great," New York manager Terry Collins said. "We've got to come out (Wednesday) and (starter) Steven Matz has got to give us a game."

Any chance the Mets look past Game 4 and ahead to their first World Series berth since 2000? "They won't look forward to it," Collins said. "I can tell you that right now. That clubhouse right now, all they're talking about is tomorrow. They know what they're facing."

In addition to the solid starting pitching, the Mets continued getting offense from Daniel Murphy Tuesday.

In the third inning, he hit a solo home run to center field off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, putting New York in front 2-1. Murphy has homered in five straight postseason games after hitting just 14 during the regular season.

"I don't know," Murphy said of his power surge. "I wish I could explain it; I would have done it like six years ago. I can't explain it. I think this is just a lot of fun right now."

Teammate David Wright among others, is enjoying the Murphy's power surge.

"It's ridiculous," Wright said. "We were talking in the dugout and being here in Chicago, he should have given the shoulder shrug to (Michael) Jordan after that last one. Being a hitter, I understand how difficult it is to do what he's doing. It's fun to watch."

At this rate, the Mets are going to have even more fun when they close out the Cubs.

"In general, they just have played well," Maddon said. "They've played really well. They've done little things well and they've taken advantage of us in different moments. We've not been able to overcome that because we're not hitting the ball like we normally can. So you see that."

• Follow Scot's reports throughout the playoffs @scotgregor.

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