Mets Stumble Back to .500 in 4-3 Loss to Cubs

Despite a fantastic performance from the Mets’ bullpen and yet another Pete Alonso home run, New York fell to the Cubs, 4-3, in 10 innings.

Joey Lucchesi went three innings and allowed three earned runs, making way for the star of the game in Sean Reid-Foley. The former Blue Jay pitched three perfect innings of relief in his Mets debut, striking out four along the way.

The offense made a valiant effort to come back, as Alonso went deep and J.D. Davis tied the game late, but further struggles with runners in scoring position in extra innings cost New York the game.

On the Mound

Luis Guillorme was placed into the lineup for defensive purposes after a miserable four-error performance on Wednesday, and it was immediately showcased on Thursday evening.

After falling behind 3-1 against leadoff hitter Ian Happ, Lucchesi fired a low fastball that Happ smacked sharply towards the hole on the left side. Guillorme stretched fully and caught the ball on a hop, spinning around before firing an off-balance one-hopper to first for the out.

Lucchesi, coming off of a sub-optimal start in Colorado where he lasted just three innings, gained some momentum from Guillorme’s shining play, as he struck out his next two batters to end the first frame quickly.

The glovework continued in the second, as Alonso joined the party with a web gem of his own, robbing Anthony Rizzo of a base hit. Joey Fuego, as his teammates like to call him, continued his solid work on the mound, punching out his next two batters to bring his total to four in just two innings.

After striking out David Bote looking to start his third inning, Lucchesi faced his first real challenge of the game; Jake Marisnick.

Marisnick, a former Met, proved to be a tough out, fouling off multiple pitches on a 3-2 count before finally drawing a walk. Lucchesi, looking quite shaken off his groove, walked Cubs pitcher Trevor Williams on four pitches to put two men on with just one gone. After a flyout to right field moved the runners to the corners with two outs, Wilson Contreras cashed in the first run of the game with a single that struck Lucchesi on the mound and bounded into no-man’s land in the infield.

The Cubs’ offense was not done yet, however, as Kris Bryant lined a fastball to the left-center field wall, bringing in two more runs after a subsequent missed throw from Jonathan Villar bounded past James McCann at the plate. Lucchesi finally escaped the inning by forcing Rizzo into a groundout, but the damage was done, and the Mets were down 3-0 after three frames.

Reid-Foley replaced Lucchesi in the bottom of the fourth. Lucchesi, who started off so strong, lasted just three innings and gave up three earned on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

The former Blue Jay was extremely impressive in his Mets debut. He struck out his first man before retiring his next two via groundout, getting through the fourth on just 10 pitches.

The 25-year-old continued his dominance in the fifth and the sixth, slotting three more strikeouts and retiring the side in order both times. After three perfect innings and 39 pitches, Reid-Foley’s relief appearance came to an end.

Trevor May took over in the seventh and began his outing with a wild sequence of events. A routine pop-fly to center field off the bat of Javier Baez dropped in between Kevin Pillar and Michael Conforto for a base hit. The ball was thrown into the infield where Villar caught it and fired to first base, where Baez was standing off the bag. Alonso attempted the tag and looked to have gotten the out. However, after replay review, the call was overturned, and Baez was awarded first base.

The shenanigans proved futile for the Cubs, as May made a good pitch to force Matt Duffy into a double play before blowing a fastball past Bote to end the inning.

Marisnick led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple against Aaron Loup, putting the leading run 90 feet from home to start the frame. Loup got Austin Romine to pop out to second and then followed that up with a clutch strikeout of Happ, holding the runner at third.

Miguel Castro relieved Loup to face Contreras with two outs. In one of the biggest at-bats of the game, Castro brought the count to 2-2 before throwing a slider that was too tempting for Contreras, who chased and struck out to end the inning.

Edwin Diaz was the arm out of the pen in the bottom of the ninth, tasked with holding the Chicago offense at bay. Things looked bleak initially, as Bryant led off the inning with a base hit. However, Diaz rebounded and struck out Rizzo and Baez for two quick outs. Bryant then chose to take off for second with two gone, and McCann sent him right back to the dugout, gunning him down for the out that was confirmed by replay review.

The Mets went back to Diaz for the 10th, and he greeted Duffy warmly by hitting him with the first pitch of the frame. Bote followed with a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners up to second and third. After an intentional walk, Jason Heyward provided the final blow, singling into right field and winning the game for the Cubs.

At the Plate

If you had asked Trevor Williams on Wednesday who he thought he’d face as the Mets’ leadoff hitter on Thursday evening, he most likely wouldn’t have said Luis Guillorme.

And yet, a day after giving up three runs in a relief appearance, Guillorme not only got the start at third base, but was handed the leadoff spot in the lineup with Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil both on the bench.

Luckily for Williams, Guillorme didn’t put up much of a fight in his first at-bat, flying out to left field. Francisco Lindor, looking to keep up his recent trend of success at the plate, was robbed by Happ in left field on a great diving play for the second out of the inning. Dominic Smith then lined a two-out base hit to right field but was ultimately left stranded.

It was the same story in the second, as McCann provided the Mets’ second hit of the game but was left on base via a fielder’s choice and a Pillar strikeout.

Williams, having given up two hits in his first two innings, was fully settled by the third. He retired his opponents 1-2-3 and was through three frames with 39 pitches under his belt.

It seemed that, entering the fourth, the Mets bats were tired of missing the ball; Smith led off with a scorching double to left center, and he was driven home after Alonso absolutely crushed a missile over the left field wall for his second home run in as many days.

Conforto followed this by smacking a ball towards the center field wall that hit the top of the rope in the Wrigley Field basket for his third double of the season.

Even with nobody out, the Mets’ woes with runners in scoring position continued, as McCann and Pillar were retired before Nimmo, pinch-hitting for the pitcher, struck out looking to end the inning.

Williams returned to his former self in the fifth, leaving his shaky fourth inning in the dust, as he retired the side in order and picked up his sixth strikeout of the evening. The fifth was Williams’ last, as he was pinch hit for in the home half of the inning; his final line saw him go five innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, and striking out six.

Jason Adam came in for the sixth, and made quick work of the Mets offense, putting them down in order. The Cubs looked to Adam to provide them another inning of relief in the seventh, but he had other ideas, hitting Villar with a pitch to lead off the inning. Chicago then opted to bring in 33-year-old Ryan Tepera, who retired Pillar to bring the pitcher’s spot up with one out. Pinch hitter J.D. Davis, already 4-for-7 in the series, continued his reign of terror at the plate with a long double off the center field wall, scoring Villar all the way from first base to tie the game at three.

Andrew Chafin took over on the bump after Guillorme popped out, and he retired Lindor on a pop-out to first base to keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the seventh. Chafin remained on the mound for the eighth, and “The Sheriff”, as his teammates refer to him, was dominant, retiring his opponents 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in the inning.

With the game still tied going into the ninth, the Cubs went to Craig Kimbrel to try to keep the game locked. He succeeded, retiring the bottom half of the order with ease.

Dan Winkler checked into the game for the Cubbies in the top of the 10th, and his first pitch went right to the backstop, advancing Pillar, who was the runner on second base, to third. After McNeil struck out, Guillorme and Lindor both drew walks on great at-bats, bringing Smith to the plate with the bases loaded. He couldn’t come through, though, as he grounded into a sharp double play to send the game into the bottom of the 10th, where they would eventually lose the game.

On Deck

The Mets will head back to New York to begin a three-game set against the Washington Nationals on Friday, who are off to a 7-9 start to the season. Game one will be the Mets’ rescheduled Jackie Robinson Day celebration, after the initial one was rained out.

Jacob deGrom will make his fourth start of the season on Friday, with Marcus Stroman pitching on Saturday and Taijuan Walker taking Sunday’s game.

The Nationals have had some tough injury luck with their starting pitchers, so the Mets will face 28-year-old Erick Fedde in game one. Joe Ross will get the start for Washington in game two on Saturday, and the struggling Patrick Corbin will take the series finale.