The New York Mets (49-43) were defeated by the Chicago Cubs (56-36) by a score of 5-1 tonight at Wrigley Field.
The Washington Nationals were off tonight, but the Mets fell to 6.5 games out of first place with the loss.
If the Miami Marlins come away with an extra inning victory over the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, the Mets will find themselves in third place in the National League East.
Pitching:
Steven Matz toed the rubber for the Mets tonight in the Windy City, and had a pretty underwhelming outing.
Matz managed to toss only five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, while striking out five and walking one. With the loss, Matz falls to 7-6 on the campaign.
Three of the four runs Matz allowed came on one big swing from Anthony Rizzo, who drilled his 22nd homer of the year to right in the third.
Seth Lugo pitched two scoreless innings, but did allow the fourth run of the game, an inherited one from Matz, to score on a sacrifice fly from David Ross in the sixth.
Yoenis Cespedes did save a run from scoring when the outfielder gunned down Cubs catcher Willson Contreras trying to score early on, but a blunder in the eighth inning that saw a ball roll under Cespedes glove plated the fifth Cubs run.
Offense:
There’s not much to write here. Jon Lester pitched a marvelous game tonight, firing 7.2 innings, allowing just a solo home run to Wilmer Flores in the seventh, and a meager four hits. A nice bounce back outing for Lester against the Mets, who slapped the veteran around when the Cubs visited New York earlier this month.
The Mets have just not had good luck in recent years at Wrigley Field during the regular season. Only thing to say is to go out and take the next two games then get some rest Thursday and prepare for the Marlins. Take this one day at a time.
On deck:
Noah Syndergaard (9-4, 2.56 ERA) will return to the place he made his major league debut at last season and take the ball for the Amazin’s Tuesday night, and will be opposed by Jake Arrieta (12-4, 2.68 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
