The Mets welcomed the Chicago Cubs to Citi Field in New York for a four-game series. It was Jake Arrieta for the Cubs facing David Peterson for the Mets.

Peterson was looking for redemption after a rough outing his last time out. Peterson did just that, pitching a near-flawless six innings, giving up just one hit and two walks, no runs over the course of 73 pitches (43 strikes) thrown on Monday night against the Cubs.

It was his pitching along with timely hitting that led the Mets to a 5-2 win over Chicago Monday at Citi Field.

The top of the first was a routine one for Peterson and the Mets as Peterson retired the Cubs in order with a line out of Wilson Contreras, a strikeout of Kris Bryant (his first of the night), and a ground out of Anthony Rizzo to end the inning.

The Mets came to bat in the bottom of the first and got a couple runners on with walks of Jonathan Villar and Dominic Smith, but a force out of Lindor and a double play by Alonso negated the runners on and ended the inning as Jake Arrieta was able to get out of trouble without letting any runs across.

It was another quick top of the second for Peterson. After a lead-off walk to Patrick Wisdom, he forced Jake Marisnick into a double play and Jason Heyward to ground out to end the inning.

Arrieta settled in in the bottom half of the second. Billy McKinney and James McCann each grounded out and Kevin Pillar struck out (Arrieta’s first strikeout of the night) to end the inning.

The game’s first hit came in the top of the third to the Cubs. After Peterson got Sergio Alcantara to ground out, Eric Sogard singled off of Peterson. Arrieta then came up and attempted to bunt, and while out at first, he advanced Sogard to second, who was then picked off by Peterson at second base to end the inning.

Arrieta then answered with another quick bottom half of the third. Guillorme struck out (Arrieta’s second strikeout of the night), followed by a ground out by Peterson and a line out by Villar to end the third and take the game to the fourth inning.

Peterson settled back in in the fourth, retiring the Cubs again in order with flyouts of Contreras and Bryant and a ground out of Rizzo.

The bottom of the fourth is when the Mets opened the scoring and took a lead. The inning began with a groundout of Lindor. Smith then singled to put the first runner on, followed by a strikeout of Alonso (Arrieta’s third strikeout of the night). Arrieta then proceeded to walk McKinney to put two runners on.

With two runners on, it was McCann at the plate. He proceeded to hit a hard RBI single to center field that scored Smith, advanced McKinney to third, and McCann advanced to second on a throwing error by Marisnick and the Mets would take a 1-0 lead over the Cubs at Citi Field.

Up 1-0 over the Cubs, Pillar kept the hits going with a big RBI double on a hard line drive to center that scored McKinney and McCann as the Mets took a 3-0 lead over the Cubs.

That’s all that the Mets would produce in the fourth as Arrieta was intentionally walked and Peterson grounded out to end the inning.

Peterson continued to roll in the top of the fifth as Peterson struck out Wisdom (Peterson’s second strikeout of the night), and forced Marisnick to line out and Heyward to ground out to end the inning.

The bottom of the fifth was another run-producing inning for the Amazin’s. While Villar grounded out and Lindor lined out for the first two quick outs of the inning, Smith then collected his second hit of the night with a huge home run to deep center to extend the Mets’ lead to 4-0 over the Cubs. That run was Smith’s second run and first RBI of the night as he continued to have a breakout night at the plate.

Following Smith’s homer, Alonso grounded out to end the inning. But Smith’s home run would give the Mets a big 4-0 lead over the Cubs and Peterson a nice cushion on the mound heading into the sixth inning, over half way home on the game.

Needing a redemption night on the mound, Peterson continued to show that he worked on his mechanics and improved the mistakes he made in his last outing as he continued to roll in the sixth. After giving up a lead-off walk to Alcantara, Peterson got Sogard to Pop out. Ian Happ pinch-hit for Jake Arrieta in the sixth. He proceeded to fly out to McKinney for the second out of the inning, followed by a strikeout of Contreras to end the inning (Peterson’s third strike out of the night).

As the Mets and Cubs head to the bottom of the sixth, Tommy Nance replaced Jake Arrieta on the mound for the Cubs. He quickly got a strikeout of McKinney (Nance’s first of the night) and a ground out of McCann for two quick outs. The Mets were then in action.

With two outs and no one on, Nance walked Pillar and Guillorme to put two runners on in the sixth for the Mets.

Brandon Drury came in to pinch hit for David Peterson after a phenomenal outing by Peterson. Drury then proceeded to hit an RBI single to center that scored Pillar and moved Guillorme to third to extend the Mets’ lead over the Cubs to 5-0 in the sixth.

With two outs, two on and a run across, Rex Brothers came in to replace Nance on the mound for the Cubs. He quickly struck out Villar to end the inning (his first strikeout of the night) as the game head to the seventh inning.

David Peterson was replaced on the mound for the Mets in the seventh by Trevor May. Peterson would be lined up for the win should the score hold and the Mets advance to take the win over the Cubs. Peterson threw 73 pitches (43 for strikes) in a very impressive comeback outing, the strong outing he really needed.

Peterson’s final line:

6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 5.60 ERA.

May struggled in his relief appearance for the Mets. After a ground out of Bryant, May gave up back-to-back home runs to Rizzo and Wisdom as the Mets’ lead was decreased to three (5-2) in the seventh.

May settled back in with a strikeout of Marisnick, but that was all for May as Aaron Loup would replace May on the mound for the Mets in the seventh with Jason Heyward coming to bat for the Cubs.

Trevor May’s final line:

0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR

Loup quickly struck out the inning to avoid more trouble and get the Mets out of the inning. The Mets would have a 3-2 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh in New York.

The Mets would put runners on quick in the bottom of the seventh as they tried to get the inning going. Lindor walked and stole second base (his fifth stolen base of the night), followed by a line out by Smith. Alonso was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second with one out for the Mets. Brothers then got McKinney to pop out for the second out of the inning before being replaced on the mound in the seventh by Trevor Megill with McCann coming to bat for the Mets.

Contreras then picked off Alonso on a throw to first to end the inning and take the game to the eighth in New York. With the inning ending on a pick-off, McCann will come back to the plate for the Mets in the bottom of the eighth.

With the game heading to the eighth, Mason Williams replaced Smith in the outfield. Williams would head to center field and Pillar would shift from left to center field.

Aaron Loup came back out for the eighth for the Mets with Alcantara coming to the plate for the Cubs. Loup got two quick outs with a strikeout of Alcantara followed by a fly out of Sogard. Javier Baez then came in to pinch-hit for Megill in the eighth. Baez grounded out to second to end the inning and take the game to the bottom of the eighth, with McCann coming back to the plate for the Mets as Alonso was picked off in the seventh to end that inning.

With McCann coming to the plate, Dillon Maples replaced Megill on the mound for the Cubs.

Maples quickly retired the Mets in order with a strikeout of McCann, and groundouts of Pillar and Guillorme to end the inning.

The Mets and Cubs head to the ninth with the Mets up 5-2. The Mets would go to their closer Edwin Diaz to try to close out the game as he replaced Loup on the mound for the Mets.

Aaron Loup’s final line:

1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 2.04 ERA

After a long, seven-pitch at-bat and battle for Contreras, Diaz won the fight with a strikeout of Contreras for the first out. The Mets would be two outs away from a series-opening win. He then proceeded to strike out Bryant for the second out of the night. Anthony Rizzo would be the last chance for the Cubs with two-outs in the ninth.

Diaz would go on to strike out Rizzo to end the inning and the game as he retired the side in order with all strikeouts and the Mets went on to defeat the Cubs 5-2 in the opening game of the series.

It was a great night for Smith, who was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI and a home run, as well as Peterson who pitched six great innings as the Mets played a solid game all around to defeat the Cubs on Monday night.

Peterson (2-5) got the win for the Mets, Arrieta (5-7) took the loss for the Cubs, and Diaz collected his 13th save of the season in the Mets win over the Cubs.

The Mets and Cubs will continue their series Tuesday night at 7:10PM EDT with coverage on SNY and ESPN. It will be Alec Mills (2-0, 6.08 ERA) for the Cubs against Taijuan Walker (5-2, 2.07 ERA) for the Mets.