Game Recap: Cubs fall to Mets, drop five straight |
Dustin Riese
· · 11 hours ago
CHICAGO - Desperate times call for desperate measures, and anytime you are facing a desperate team this late in the season, things aren't going to come easy. The Chicago Cubs (88-69) are finding that out firsthand as they went into the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend and got swept in a four-game series.
The Reds needed to win that series to keep their playoff hopes alive. Fast forward to Tuesday, and it was the Cubs opening a three-game set with the New York Mets (81-76), who are in a similar situation to the one the Reds were in last weekend. Considering Cade Horton was on the mound for the Cubs, you had to like their chances, and through five innings, things were looking good as the Cubs opened up a 6-1 lead at that point. From that point on, it was all New York as they used a five-run inning to tie things up before the Francisco Alvarez eight inning homer off Caleb Thielbar capped off an improbable comeback as the Mets push the Cubs losing streak to five games with the 9-7 win. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, Horton would be the one taking the ball in Game 1, as the Rookie of the Year favorite has been the best pitcher in baseball since the All-Star break. Even after allowing a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor, which put the Mets on top 1-0, Horton continued to do what he has been doing for three months now. That was the only run he allowed before exiting after three innings due to what the team calls lower back tightness. That alone is a concern, but this was more of a precautionary move with the playoffs around the corner, so try not to look too deeply into that right now. While Horton was doing his thing on the mound yet again, it was the dormant Cubs offense that came to play against David Peterson as the Mets left-hander was roughed up for five runs in just 1 1/3. After picking up his first hit since joining the Cubs on Sunday, Carlos Santana delivered his first two RBIs with his new team as a two-out two-run double put the Cubs on top 2-1 in the bottom of the first. That was only the start for what was a relentless offensive approach in the early innings as Chicago jumped all over Pederson in the second inning to chase him from the game. It all started with a leadoff walk to Justin Turner, who advanced to second on the Matt Shaw single. After Pete Crow-Armstrong moved both runners up 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt, Nico Hoener came through with another hit with runners in scoring position, pushing the Cubs' lead to 3-1. The big blow of the second inning came from Ian Happ, who followed the Hoerner single with a two-run double, extending the Cubs' lead to 5-1. Happ was responsible for another run in the fourth off a costly error, as it was all Chicago early on 6-1. Considering how well Horton has been pitching, a 6-1 lead was more than enough even with his absence after just three innings. He gave way to Michael Soroka, who tossed a scoreless fourth inning before running into major fifth-inning trouble. While most of what happened to Soroka isn't his fault, as a costly Dansby Swanson error opened the floodgates to what was a big inning, it was still up to him to get out of things as the Mets pulled within 6-2 on an RBI fielder's choice. Following a Juan Soto walk that kept the pressure on, Pete Alonso came through as he has so often done against this Cubs team, using an RBI single to make this a 6-3 game. That was the final batter Soroka would face as left-hander Taylor Rogers was called on to face the left-handed hitting Brandon Nimmo. Talk about a rude welcome into the game, Nimmo not only delivered a huge hit, but took Rogers deep for a three-run shot, and just like that, this was now a 6-6 game. Four of those six runs were charged to Soroka, but considering the Swanson error killed what could've been the end of the inning, none of those runs were charged to Soroka, who is still trying to secure a postseason spot on this team. In what was now a battle of the bullpens, and for the most part, both bullpens having to work overtime, Rogers came back out to pitch the sixth, only to run into some trouble before being lifted for Drew Pomeranz. As was the case for Rogers, Pomeranz didn't get off to a great start, walking the first hitter he faced before the Lindor single put the Mets on top for the first time since the first inning, 7-6. Anytime the Cubs need a big hit, Hoerner tends to deliver, as his two-out single off Gregory Soto in the bottom of the sixth sparked what wound up being a massive two-out rally for this team. With Happ working a walk to extend the inning, it was a rare second-half single from Seiya Suzuki getting the job done as Hoerner came in to score to make this a 7-7 game and the best of the Cubs' relievers still to come. Andrew Kittredge did his job by tossing a scoreless seventh only to have the Cubs' offense waste another scoring chance, stranding two in their half of the seventh. Then came the eighth inning, where Thielbar was set to take over with the hopes of keeping his strong second-half run going. Any time you allow the leadoff hitter to reach, which Thielbar did on the Brett Baty single, you're playing with fire, but after he retired the next two batters, he was on the verge of getting out of the inning without damage. That was until Alvarez unloaded for a long two-run shot into the left field bleachers, erasing what was a 6-1 Cubs lead and turning it into a 9-6 Mets lead late. It was that homer that went down as the game-winning hit as Edwin Diaz entered the game in the eighth for the six-out save and proceeded to strike out five Cubs in two innings to get the save, and moved the Mets back in front of the Reds in the playoff standings.
