Photo Credit: amazinavenue.com
It is true that in any good story that when the hero in the plot is attempting to achieve a goal, they run into trouble along the way at the hands of some sort of dominant adversary. That seems to be the best way to describe the Chicago Cubs against the New York Mets. After being swept in the NLCS by the Mets last season, the Cubs could not win a regular season game up in New York at Citi Field a few weeks ago. Now, the season series made its way to Wrigley for a 3-game set.
Going into the game Monday, the Mets had gotten the better of the Cubs 8 times in a row, going back to the 2015 NLCS. So, when the Cubs picked up a 5-1 victory, a feeling of relief seemed to set over the city of Chicago. They had beaten the Mets and owned the 1-0 series lead going into last night’s game headlined by the starting pitchers, Jake Arrieta for the Cubs against Noah Syndergaard for the Mets.
Jake Arrieta is one of the best pitchers in baseball. His record is 12-6. 12-6 with a 2.60 ERA is not too bad, yet after a few shaky starts before the All-Star break, it seemed like all attention was on him to have a quality start and be the dominant starter he had been before, and he delivered. He kept his pitch count low. In the 5th inning, he had only thrown 38 pitches, compared to the 82 pitches thrown by Syndergaard. He got 8 strikeouts and gave up 1 run, as Jose Reyes scored on a sacrifice fly in the 6th inning. He pitched 7 innings total and got no decision.
For the Mets, Syndergaard is one of the hardest throwing starting pitchers in the MLB. He needed to be replaced in the All-Star game due to an issue with his elbow, and many were keeping an eye on how he would do last night. The Cubs’ bats put a lot of pressure on him, as they had runners on base for most of the night.
The one they call Thor, however, seemed to get out of almost every jam. He threw 102 pitches total on the night and got through 5 2/3 innings, allowing just 1 unearned run after Mets’ catched Rene Rivera overthrew Reyes, allowing Willson Contreras to score off the error.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Mets were ahead 2-1 when Jeurys Familia was brought in the game with a save opportunity. He walked back to back batters, giving Addison Russell and Miguel Montero free bases. Javier Baez came in and got a single to load the bases with the potential winning run on 2nd base. Matt Szczur hit then into a fielders’ choice, and Russell was thrown out at home plate. The score remained 2-1. Kris Bryant then hit a ground ball into the game-ending double play, and the Mets held on for the win.
Hansel Robles got the win for the Mets, improving his record to 4-3. Jeurys Familia got the save, his 33rd of the season. Hector Rondon got the loss for Chicago. The Cubs are now 56-37 while the Mets are 50-43.
These two teams will be back it again this afternoon at 1:20 CT at Wrigley Field.
SportsPress 