Bullpen falters, Cubs sweep Mets

On a night where most of the eyes around baseball were looking toward the future at the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Mets were trying to correct things in the present on the field. The team had dropped the first two games of the set in heartbreaking fashion and sought to avoid a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field for the first time since 2004. Jacon deGrom was sent out to stop the losing skid. Left-hander Travis Wood went for the Cubs.

Despite a four-run comeback, the Mets fell by a 7-4 margin for their third straight defeat.

Jun 5, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Mets left fielder

(30) high-fives first baseman

(29) after Brown hit a 2-run home run in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Chicago Cubs catcher

(32) is seen looking on. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Game Recap

Both pitchers made it through the first inning unscathed. Chris Young, Curtis Granderson and David Wright were put down in order. DeGrom worked around a one-out walk to retire the Cubs in their half.

The Mets encountered a bit of bad luck up at the plate in the second. After Eric Campbell walked and Andrew Brown was hit in the knee with a wayward pitch, Wilmer Flores stepped in looking to do some damage. He scorched a ball back up the middle, but it nipped Wood’s glove and deflected right to a perfectly-placed Starlin Castro at short, who in turn stepped on second and fired to first for a double play. With a runner at third and two outs, Ruben Tejada went down on strikes to end the frame without a run.

Chicago started off their second inning almost identically as the Mets, putting runners on first and second two batters in. It appeared the Cubs would suffer the same fate as the Mets when Andrew Brown caught a fly ball in left, and gunned a perfect strike to home plate. Luis Valbuena was initially called out, but the call was challenged and overturned to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

The missed tag by Travis d’Arnaud would not only hurt the Mets for one run, but two more. Wood followed at the plate, and crushed a home run to left field to put Chicago up 3-0, repeating what he did last May at Wrigley against Dillon Gee. 

DeGrom did his best to get one back with a double into the ivy in left-center field, but the bats around him could not bring him home. He did weave around first and second trouble in the next half to keep the score 3-0.

After Brown reached on an error, a Flores double and a Tejada walked, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs in the third. But the Mets’ issues with runners in scoring position continued when d’Arnaud flew out to center on the very first pitch.

Another run for the Cubs was tacked on in the fourth when Tejada tried to gun down Darwin Barney at the plate on a Wood grounder to short, but the attempt came to no avail. The Mets got out of the jam, but not without being down by four.

With runners on at second and third and two outs in the fifth, the Mets failed in another crucial spot. This time it was Eric Campbell fanning on a chance to get the Mets on the board.

Finally in the sixth, the Amazin’s did come through with runners on. Tejada singled up to bring home Brown home with the first run. The third consecutive Met baserunner also prompted the Cubs to dispatch Wood from the game. After Daniel Murphy struck out, Young dunked in a hit to bring in the second run, cutting the Chicago lead in half. Granderson could not keep the inning going though, and things stood at 4-2 going to the bottom half.

Vic Black came on for the Mets in the sixth and pitched a spotless frame. Half an inning later, the Mets were able to tie up the score when  Brown hit one into the left field bleachers for a two-run homer.

The tie would not last long, however, as Anthony Rizzo crushed a home run to deep right field to give the Cubs a 5-4 edge.

In the eighth the Cubs added two more insurance runs, courtesy of a two-RBI triple from Junior Lake.

Neil Ramirez shut the door down in the ninth to seal the win for Chicago, its first sweep of the season.

Next Up

Friday night at 10:15 the Mets will open up a series with the Giants. Jon Niese will take the hill for the Mets and oppose Matt Cain.