The New York Mets (29-34) were defeated by the Chicago Cubs (32-32) by a score of 14-3 at Citi Field Tuesday evening.
Pitching:
Zack Wheeler was on the mound for the Mets tonight and he got clobbered. Wheeler didn’t last two innings allowing, eight runs while walking three and striking out three.
In the top of the first inning, Wheeler gave up a home run to Anthony Rizzo before most of the fans had even made it to their seats putting the Mets in the early 1-0 hole.
Things got much worse in the second inning after the Mets tied things in the bottom of the frame. Wheeler had two outs with a runner on first before the “wheels” came off.
Jon Lester singled and Albert Almora walked to load the bases for Rizzo.
Rizzo put in a really tough at-bat and was able to coax a walk and bring home a run. Ian Happ was next and he parked a grand slam over the center field wall to give the Cubs a 6-1 lead.
Things weren’t settled for Wheeler yet. Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward each singled and Addison Russell doubled them home to give the Cubs an 8-1 lead before Wheeler was mercifully pulled.
Josh Smoker did Yeoman’s work tonight. Smoker came in and pitched four innings, giving up three runs through 81 pitches.
Neil Ramirez pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up a run. Josh Edgin then came in to pitch the ninth and gave up a two-run bomb to Javier Baez.
Offense:
The Mets started things off in the first inning with a single from Juan Lagares. After Lagares stole second base, Yoenis Cespedes doubled him home to tie the game at one run a piece.
Neil Walker and Lucas Duda hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the ninth when the game was well out of hand. That was it for the Mets offense on the night as they were only able to muster seven hits against Jon Lester and the Cubs.
Notes:
Cespedes went 2-for-2 on the night before being removed for Curtis Granderson once the game was out of hand.
Josh Smoker threw 40 pitches more than his career high.
Jay Bruce made an incredible home run-saving catch off Kyle Schwarber in the top of the eighth inning.
On Deck:
The Mets will play the rubber game of a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field tomorrow evening. The game has a start time of 7:10 p.m. Matt Harvey (4-3, 5.02 ERA), will look to get the Mets back on track against Mike Montgomery (0-3, 2.43 ERA).
