A disastrously bad sweep by the Cubs

September is no time to get swept. This is especially true when you’re vying for a division title and you have a sub-.500 team visiting. Unfortunately, those things do happen. And it did happen to the New York Mets.

The Mets continue to hold onto first place in the National League East because the Atlanta Braves had a 2-4 road trip out West. However, this was the perfect time for the Amazins to capitalize and create some distance.

What went wrong?

The Mets hitters took the series off

This is the same team that scored 20 runs in two games coming into this series. In their three games against the Cubs, they didn’t even match the 9 scored on Sunday versus the Miami Marlins. Instead, they settled for 2, 1, and 3 runs in their games.

The Mets gave into the reputation they sometimes get of struggling against pitchers they’re unfamiliar with. They made Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad look Cy Young-worthy. Those are the games you feast on pitchers. Instead, they rolled over.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom wasn’t perfect

The Mets needed a whole lot more from Jacob deGrom to win his start against the Cubs. Fans were having flashbacks to 2018 watching him pitch well yet make a few mistakes which ended up costing the team a game.

With a hapless offense backing him up, deGrom had to be perfect. Coming off a weak outing from Chris Bassitt, it was good to see deGrom on the schedule to help get the team back to where they needed to be. Instead, the theme continued.

Mets pitcher David Peterson helped them get behind early

David Peterson may have made his final start for the Mets on Wednesday when he failed to even get through the first inning. A regular contributor throughout the 2022 season, we should expect the Mets to ask Trevor Williams to fill in rather than Peterson if the opportunity arises.

The Cubs scored all 6 of their runs in the first inning. It was all they needed because the one constant throughout the series remained the same: the Mets bats are asleep.

A slim lead over the Braves will have a chance to extend this week as they play the Pittsburgh Pirates. Atlanta will face the playoff-hopeful Philadelphia Phillies. Hopefully, the embarrassing sweep by the Cubs is the eye-opener they need.