After getting pummeled by the visiting New York Mets in the first few innings of their series opener on Friday, the Chicago Cubs returned the favor in Saturday’s rematch and rolled to an 8-1 home victory to even up the three-game series.
Chicago jumped all over Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill and scored five runs in the first inning. Christopher Morel homered in the third.
Chicago’s Jameson Taillon (4-3) logged his first win on the mound since May 4. Taillon gave up just one earned run and six hits over seven innings. He recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts and didn’t walk any batters.
Megill (2-4) was relieved after allowing six runs and five hits over three innings. He appeared to settle down after that nightmarish start to the game and got six strikeouts, but he also gave up a third-inning solo homer to Morel. It was Morel’s 14th blast of the season.
All nine batters in Chicago’s lineup made a plate appearance in the first inning. Dansby Swanson recorded a RBI double and Pete Crow-Armstrong chipped in a RBI triple, while Seiya Suzuki and Morel each had RBI singles and Ian Happ’s knocked in one with a groundout to fuel the high-scoring half-inning.
Francisco Alvarez got New York on the board with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning, but the red-hot bats of the Mets were kept in check.
The Mets scored all of their runs in the first four innings in Friday’s 11-1 rout of the Cubs.
Saturday marked the first time that the Mets were held to fewer than two runs since a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 28.
The Mets left runners in scoring position in the fourth, seventh and ninth innings. Colten Brewer and Hector Neris each pitched an inning in relief for the Cubs after Taillon’s quality start. Brewer struck out two batters and didn’t give up any hits or runs. Neris relinquished a double to Tyrone Taylor, but didn’t give up any other hits or runs to close out the game.
Tomas Nido, who signed with the Cubs on Wednesday after being designated for assignment by New York after 12 years with the Mets organization, made his first career start for Chicago against his former team.
Nido hit a RBI double in the sixth inning and later scored a run after an error. He went 1-for-4.
–Field Level Media