While Jay Bruce helped Cleveland secure a spot in the history books at home, his former team was mired in more misery on the road, as the Cubs clobbered the Mets 17-5 at Wrigley Field.
In his third start back from a right shoulder injury, Matt Harvey threw 86 pitches in 3.1 innings, walking four, surrendering five runs on seven hits. Like a real estate agent in a serious rut, he struggled with his location, location, location.
After the game, his few words were a far cry from his pitch count. “After today, it’s just frustrating,” Harvey said. “There’s not much else to say.”
The rookie Mets bullpen combination of Chasen Bradford, Jacob Rhame, Kevin McGowan and Jamie Callahan allowed in the final three innings to let the Cubs make it a laugher.
Terry Collins was frustrated with the pitching after the game saying, “Go after some guys. … Eleven walks? Not at this level. You can’t do that.”
The Mets gave Cubs counterpart Jon Lester’s arm a workout, as well, forcing him to toss 78 pitches through three innings, but the lefty bounced back only needing 36 over the final three innings to finish at 114 for his 11th win of the season.
Jose Reyes led off the first with a solo shot to left center field, but Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant answered back in the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles, and a walk by Anthony Rizzo loaded them up for back to back ground outs by Willson Contreras and Ian Happ, giving the Cubs the lead they would never relinquish.
Former teammate Rene Rivera pounced on Mets relief pitching with a pair of doubles for two runs batter in, and Albert Almora Jr., arriving late to the party in the seventh, jacked a three-run homer, adding an additional three runs in the eighth on a line drive triple to right field.
Three Mets rookies made some offensive noise for naught, but a positive sign of what’s in store at the plate for next season. Amed Rosario went 3 for 4 with two runs scored, Travis Taijeron was 2 for 3 with a walk, and Dominic Smith provided some power with a two-run shot when the game was well out of reach.
