The New York Mets had some chances to win against the Cubs today, but their anemic offense once again came up lame.
The New York Mets’ disastrous road trip continued with yet another tough loss today, as the Chicago Cubs used a three-run, pinch-hit homer by Carson Kelly in the seventh inning to win 4-2 and send the Mets to their tenth straight loss.
It was yet another day of frustration for the Mets, as they managed to stay tied early on, then missed multiple opportunities to come from behind late. This one was closer to a pitcher’s duel with the wind mostly pushing balls to right in Wrigley rather than blowing straight out, and both Freddy Peralta and Jameson Taillon of the Cubs were up to the task.
The initial scoring happened in the second inning with a pair of solo home runs. The first was an absolute blast by Mark Vientos that traveled 434 feet to left, but Ian Happ quickly tied it for the Cubs with a home run of his own.
Both pitchers recovered after the initial home runs, and the game stayed at 1-1 through five innings. But Peralta ran out of gas in the sixth, which is something Mets fans have seen before, and he left the game with two on and two out.
Brooks Raley took over, and he allowed a first-pitch, three-run homer to pinch-hitter Carson Kelly, and that one swing decided the game. It was the first home run allowed by Raley since 2023, and the blow was yet another sign of how badly things are going for the Mets right now as Peralta had several chances to finish the inning but was unable to come through.
The Mets again failed to generate much offense in this one beyond the Vientos homer. Their best shot came in the eighth when they used a pair of back-to-back infield hits to generate traffic, and the run scored on a throwing error by second baseman Nico Hoerner on a ground ball by Francisco Alvarez that scored Bo Bichette. But the Mets aren't doing any clutch hitting these days, and Vientos left two runners on with an ordinary grounder to third to end the brief rally.
Taillon wound up getting the win for the Cubs as he scattered five hits in six innings while striking out four, and Peralta took the loss to drop to 1-2. Ben Brown contributing two shaky innings of relief as he gave up the second run, which was unearned, and lefty Caleb Thielbar earned a save by shutting out the Mets as he struck out a pair in the ninth.
The Mets have one last chance to get a road win in Chicago, with David Peterson getting the start tomorrow with Javier Assad going for the Cubs.