Cubs Heroes and Goats: NLCS Game 5

The eighth inning in a nutshell:

Whole lotta respecting 90 here. Amazing. @Cubs #LetsGo

— Coach (@CMPunk) October 21, 2016

#Cubs crushing the ball this inning:
39.3 MPH Single
80.9 MPH Single
68.5 MPH Single

— Daren Willman (@darenw) October 21, 2016

One win to go.

Heading home with a 3-2 lead. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/MhJEWNgSBO

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 21, 2016

Graphs for NLCS Game 5 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Stats for NLCS Game 5:

Writer's Note: The daily selections of the three Heroes and three Goats are based solely on the top three and bottom three WPA scores for the game. The selections are not based on my subjective opinion.

The Ramirez Catalyst of NLCS Game 5: With one on and one out in the top of the sixth, Addison Russell breaks a 1-1 tie by taking a Joe Blanton slider deep into center field to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. WPA impact: +.256.

THE THREE HEROES:

• Superhero - Jon Lester (.263 / .174). He's come up huge so far this postseason: three starts, 21 innings pitched, two earned runs allowed, Game Scores of 77, 73, and 62. That's called getting it done.
• Hero - Addison Russell (.202). Man, that homer was a massive lift for him in this game; he'd struck out on a large serving of sliders in his first two plate appearances before breaking out with the big lumber in the sixth.
• Sidekick - Javier Baez (.122). What else can you say about him; another fantastic night both at the plate (3-for-5, three RBI) and in the field, including a superb barehanded play on an Adrian Gonzalez bunt attempt in the seventh.

THE THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat - Jason Heyward (-.101). There's no sugar-coating it; Heyward had an absolutely miserable night at the plate. Five plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, two bad strikeouts -- I mean, really ugly bad -- and two popouts.
• Goat - Ben Zobrist (-.016). Drew three walks in the game but was done in by a hard liner to end the fifth that was caught on the run by Yasiel Puig.
• Kid - Dexter Fowler (.000). It's two tough-luck Goats in a row for Fowler, who reaches the podium on consecutive days with a 2-for-5 performance in each game and a combined WPA in the two games of -.001.

RANKINGS THROUGH NLCS GAME 5: