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CHICAGO — A cold week in the Windy City ended with the Mets floating face down in Lake Michigan, alive but numb. Their ragtag defense held for a night, but the underperforming lineup couldn’t
CHICAGO — A cold week in the Windy City ended with the Mets floating face down in Lake Michigan, alive but numb.
Their ragtag defense held for a night, but the underperforming lineup couldn’t produce and then Edwin Diaz folded in his second inning of work. Jason Heyward’s RBI single against Diaz in the 10th inning Thursday night sent the Mets to a 4-3 loss to the Cubs, who completed a three-game series sweep at Wrigley Field.
With Javier Baez at second base to start the inning (per the rule in extras), Diaz drilled Matt Duffy leading off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt and intentional walk, Heyward stroked an RBI single to end it. The Mets finished 2-4 on the road trip.
The Mets missed their chance to go ahead in the top of the inning when Dominic Smith hit into a double play after Dan Winkler had loaded the bases by walking Luis Guillorme and Francisco Lindor.
Aaron Loup and Miguel Castro combined to strand the go-ahead run at third base in the eighth after Jake Marisnick delivered a leadoff triple. The lefty Loup retired Austin Romine and struck out Ian Happ before Castro entered and struck out Willson Contreras.
J.D. Davis smashed a pinch-hit RBI double off the left-field wall in the seventh to tie it 3-3. Davis was absent from the starting lineup, replaced by Guillorme, after committing three errors in the previous two games. But with the go-ahead run on second, Andrew Chafin retired Lindor.
Sean Reid-Foley, in his Mets debut, was a bright spot. The right-hander (who arrived from the alternate site before the game) entered in the fourth and fired three perfect innings with four strikeouts.
Pete Alonso’s second homer in as many nights sliced the Mets’ deficit to 3-2 in the fourth. After Dominic Smith doubled leading off the inning, Alonso blasted a 413-foot shot to left field for his team-leading fourth homer. Michael Conforto followed with a shot to left-center that just missed clearing the wall and went for a double. Jonathan Villar’s one-out walk extended the rally, but Trevor McWilliams retired Kevin Pillar and struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo to end the threat.
In his second Mets start, Joey Lucchesi lasted three innings and surrendered three earned runs on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks. It was a second straight three-inning start for the lefty, who pitched the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader in Colorado. By pitching Lucchesi against the Cubs, manager Luis Rojas gave Jacob deGrom an extra day of rest. The Mets’ ace is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Nationals at Citi Field.
Lucchesi’s undoing was walking Marisnick and the pitcher Williams successively in the third. With two outs, Contreras hit a shot that deflected off Lucchesi for an RBI single. Kris Bryant followed with a two-run double that thrust the Mets into a 3-0 hole. On the play, Pillar barehanded the carom off the wall, but Villar double-pumped on the relay throw and fired off line to the plate as the trail runner, Contreras, scored.
Guillorme, starting at third base for Davis, was tested immediately. Guillorme dove to his left and robbed Ian Happ of a hit leading off the game for the Cubs.
This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Mike Puma
