Canning had another stellar start as the Mets slugged their way to a win.
The Mets had one game left against the Cubs in Citi Field. They had split the first two games of the series, so this game determined the series winner as well. The Cubs had Matthew Boyd making the start for them, while Griffin Canning looked to continue his sparkling season thus far.
The first inning went the same for both the Mets and Cubs, with Canning and Boyd striking out the top of each lineup. Canning had a perfect second inning as well, with another strikeout on his ledger. After two outs to start the bottom of the second, Starling Marte was hit by a pitch to give the Mets (and the game) the first baserunner. Then Luis Torrens hit a triple to drive in Marte, giving the Mets the lead early. Luisangel Acuña lined out to end the inning and stranded Torrens at third.
Dansby Swanson singled and Justin Turner walked to put two runners on with no outs to start the third. But Canning pulled it together and got three consecutive outs to end the inning before either could cross home plate. Lindor got a one-out single in the bottom of the inning but he was erased on an inning-ending double play by Soto.
Canning had another perfect frame in the top of the fourth. The Mets made some noise in the bottom of the inning, with back-to-back two-out singles by Brandon Nimmo and Marte to right field, but the inning ended before anything could happen. Canning again put the Cubs down in order in the top of the fifth, and a leadoff single by Acuña in the bottom of the inning had promise, but he was picked off with one out and the inning came and went quietly.
In the sixth, with one out, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a solo home run to tie the game. Kyle Tucker was the next batter, and a foul ball from Tucker ricocheted back and hit Torrens in the groin. After a prolonged amount of pain, Torrens came out of the game and Francisco Alvarez came in to catch. Canning got the next two outs to end the inning with the game tied. In the bottom of the inning, after two outs, Mark Vientos hit a solo home run of his own to put the Mets back in front. Nimmo was hit by a pitch to prolong the inning but Marte then popped out to strand him at first.
Reed Garrett came in to pitch for the Mets in the top of the seventh. Michael Busch led off with a walk, and a one-out double by Nico Hoerner drove him to tie the game once again. Garrett got two more outs to strand Hoerner in scoring position and keep the game tied. Brad Keller came in for the Cubs in the bottom of the inning, and despite a leadoff single by Alvarez, he was erased by a double play from Acuña and the inning ended with the game tied.
Ryne Stanek was in to pitch for the Mets in the eighth, and he had a clean inning, the first for the Mets since the fifth. Porter Hodge was the pitcher for the Cubs to start the bottom of the eighth. Lindor led off with a solo home run to put the Mets back in front. Alonso hit a one-out double, then scored after Crow-Armstrong bobbled the ball on a Vientos single. José Azocar was brought in to run for Vientos, and Hodge’s day was over, with Gavin Hollowell coming in to relieve him. Hollowell’s first batter, Nimmo, hit a two-run home run to put the Mets up by four. Alvarez hit a two-out single, but Hollowell got out of the inning before another run could score for the Mets. Edwin Díaz came in for the Mets in the ninth, and he set the Cubs down in order to secure the win for the Mets.
The Mets won the series against the Cubs, and now they look ahead to facing another National League Central team: the Pirates. They match up against Paul Skenes for the first game of the series, which should be a difficult task, but with the Pirates scuffling they should hopefully pick up a few more wins against Pittsburgh.
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Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +26.3% WPA
Big Mets loser: Luisangel Acuña, -16.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +17.1% WPA
Mets hitters: +32.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s solo home run in the eighth, +27.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Nico Hoerner’s RBI double in the seventh, -20.4% WPA