Mets Sweep Doubleheader With Extra-Inning Thriller Against Cubs

After outlasting the Cubs (34-57) in extras in game one Saturday afternoon, the Mets (58-34) went for the double header sweep in game two Saturday night. With Max Scherzer on the mound, New York had an excellent chance of winning. Unfortunately, the Mets’ bats were quiet again, and game two also went to extra innings. But thanks to some shaky defense by the Cubs, the Mets were able to take a two-run lead in the top of the tenth. And thanks to some huge defense by Eduardo Escobar in the bottom of the tenth, the Mets’ hung on to win 4-3.

The Mets’ offense started out the game with four straight strikeouts. J.D. Davis was the first Met to reach base, with a two-out walk in the second inning. Eduardo Escobar then doubled, followed by a Jeff McNeil hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Unfortunately, the Mets were unable score, as Tomas Nido flew out to left.

While the Mets were unable to score in the top of the second inning, the Cubs got to Scherzer in the bottom of the inning. Frank Schwindel led off the inning with a double to left. A single by Alfonso Rivas moved Schwindel to third, and Schwindel then scored on a ground-rule double by Yan Gomes. Scherzer was able to limit the damage, retiring the next two batters, but the Cubs had a 1-0 lead.

The Mets’ offense came right back in the top of the third, taking advantage of an error by Cubs’ center fielder Ortega. Brandon Nimmo singled to lead off the inning and reached third when Ortega failed to catch a well-struck fly ball off the bat of Starling Marte. Nimmo scored on a ground out third by Francisco Lindor, tying the game 1-1.

After Scherzer pitched a shut-down top of the third, striking out the side, Escobar gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with a solo homer. Escobar has dominated Drew Smyly in his career, and that dominance was on display again Saturday night.

The Escobar-provided lead did not last long, as the Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Patrick Wisdom doubled to left with one out, and he was driven in by a two-out single off the bat of Gomes, for Gomes’ second RBI of the night.

Things went quiet after the fourth inning. Lindor got a base hit in the fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to ten games. And Pete Alonso made a nice catch in the seventh inning on a pop-up to shallow right field, which retired Gomes for the first time in the game. But otherwise, there wasn’t much to write home about.

Scherzer’s night ended with one out and one on in the seventh inning. He gave up eight hits in his 6 1/3 innings and struck out 11, matching his season high. Colin Holderman came on in relief and got two fly-outs to right, one short and one long, to retire the side. He stayed on to pitch the eighth inning and set down the side in order.

Yoan López came on to pitch the ninth inning, with the game still tied 2-2. He pitched a scoreless inning, and the only blemish was a two-out walk to Gomes.

The Mets had Nimmo as the free runner in the top of the tenth. Marte hit an infield single to third, which the Cubs’ third baseman Wisdom should’ve eaten after he failed to field it cleanly. Instead, he tried to throw Marte out at first, and Nimmo took third on the throw. With first base open, the Cubs walked Lindor and opted to face Alonso with the bases loaded and no one out. Alonso was hit by an 0-2 pitch, and the Mets had a 3-2 lead with the bases were still loaded.

Unfortunately, Mark Canha grounded the first pitch he saw back to the pitcher, and the Cubs turned a 1-2-3 double play to keep another run off the board. But, the Cubs gave a run back to the Mets when Daniel Norris tried to pickoff Alonso at second, and threw the ball away into center field. Lindor scored, and the Mets had a 4-2 lead.

López stayed on to try to finish out the game in the bottom of the tenth. He struck out the first batter he faced, but then gave up a run scoring single that cut the Mets’ lead to 4-3. Seiya Suzuki then also singled, putting runners on first and third with one out. After Suzuki stole second, the Mets issued an intentional walk to load the bases.

The game ended on a beautiful play. Escobar completed a 5-5-3 double play to get López out of a jam and preserve the Mets’ victory. With the victory, the Mets secured their first regular season series win at Wrigley Field since 2013.

Player of the Game: Max Scherzer

In a game where the Mets offense was scuffling, Scherzer did everything he could to keep them in the game. He was a little off at the start of the game, but he seemed to find himself after striking out Ian Happ in the third inning. Overall, he turned in a solid performance and left the game with his team in a position to win.

Honorable mention to Escobar, for his 3-5 night at the plate and his much-needed nice play to end the game.

On Deck

The Mets and Cubs will play their final game before the All-Star break Sunday at 2:20 p.m. David Peterson will be on the mound for the Mets as they go for the four-game sweep. Adrian Sampson is scheduled to start for the Cubs.