Mets 5 Cubs 2 (Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL)
Mets record: 37-39
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Luis Severino (5-2)
LP - Javier Assad (4-3)
SV - Jake Diekman (3)
Seat on the Korner: Luis Severino
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Another ultra quality start from Luis Severino (see below): six innings of shutout ball as he continues to make the case for an All-Star selection. Severino became the fourth pitcher to strike out 10 for both the Mets and the Yankees (Al Leiter, Orlando Hernandez and David Cone are the other three), lowered his ERA to 3.29 and pitched tough when he had to. But we'd love to hear his take on the two heart-stopping moments: the seventh inning, when his replacement, Dedniel Nunez, gave up two quick runs to bring the Cubs to within two, and the nail-biting ninth that began with Edwin Diaz' ejection. Well, Luis, what do you have to say?
Need to Know
Francisco Alvarez may have run the Mets out of a big inning in the second. On second base after a double, he misread whether Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (remember him as a Mets prospect?) would catch D.J. Stewart's pop fly. Crow-Armstrong closed quickly, and picked up the ball after it dropped in. Only then did Alvarez decide to head to third, an unwise decision. Crow-Armstrong easily threw Alvarez out.
The next batter, Mark Vientos, hit into a seagull-assisted double play. Rather than try to describe it, you have see the video. But the biggest question is: why do seagulls flock to Lake Michigan?
When Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo homered in the third inning, it was the second time this month Mets went back to back, both involving Lindor. On June 5, the shortstop was the back end of the double blast, following Luis Torrens.
Mark Vientos gave the Mets some breathing room in the seventh with a 451-foot home run to center, the Mets' longest of the year.
With the win, the Mets took both the weekend series againt the Cubs and the season series, 4-3, which gives them what might be an all-important tiebreaker for a wild card berth against the Chicago club.
It was Ryne Sandberg day at Wrigley Field. Before the game, the Cubs unveiled a statue of the Hall of Famer outside the park, joining Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo. Then Sandberg got the biggest honor the Cubs can bestow: leading the crowd in the seventh-inning-stretch Take Me Out to the Ballgame singing.
The Mets have an off-day Monday before facing the Yankees in the first of two at Citi Field Tuesday. David Peterson gets the start.
Turning Point
We'll save it for the last play of the game. After all, no lead is safe at Wrigley Field, especially if your closer, Edwin Diaz, doesn't get to throw a single pitch (again, see below) and his replacement, Drew Smith, issues a two-out single and leaves the game with an apparent injury. With visions of May making fans reach for their antacids, Jake Diekman enters the game and strikes out pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom. Only then could everyone breathe easy.
Three Keys
Timely hitting against another tough pitcher
For the second time in three days, the Mets got to a pitcher who had mastered the rest of the league. On Friday, they walloped Shota Imanaga, so far the better of the two offseason Japanese league signings. Today, the Mets hit hard ball after hard ball off of Javier Assad, who entered the day with a 1.69 ERA at Wrigley Field (and 2.75 overall). By the middle of the third, the Mets had hit 12 balls in play (hits and outs) with exit velocities greater than 90 MPH. Assad didn't make it out of the fifth.
Speldid Sevy
Louis Severino was once again masterful over six innings, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits. Severino might have lasted into the seventh had it not been for Mark Vientos failing to charge a grounder to start the sixth and Cody Bellinger working an at-bat through 12 pitches before Severino preveailed to strike Bellinger out. Severino proved again why he is the ace of the Mets staff, especially with Kodai Senga still on IL, and probably the Mets' best candidate for the All-Star team (although Francisco Lindo has to be in the conversation)
Into Every Life, a Little Sticky Situation Must Fall
Okay, we've saved the most concerning situation for last. With the Mets up 5-2 and Edwin Diaz entering the game for what appeared to be an easy, we came back from commercial to find that Diaz had been ejected before throwing a pitch, apparently after a unanimous vote by the umpiring team, for a sticky substance on his right hand. What led second base umpire Brain Walsh to initially be suspicious of Diaz is unclear, but neither Diaz nor anyone from the dugout challenged the ejection -- neither immediately nor after the game. Was he caught with his hand in the molasses cookie jar? We don't really know. But the ejection carries a 10-game suspension, and the Mets can't fill the roster spot, so if upheld, this is troubling for the team.
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