Despite ringing up twelve Cubs hitters, the Mets felt like they were getting the short end of the stick from home plate umpire John Libka as starting pitcher Taijuan Walker and manager Luis Rojas were both ejected for demanding a fair strike zone.
The Cubs were able to overcome an ugly night in the box by executing the small things and pulling out a 3-1 win.
It was a quality outing for Jake Arrieta (the only Cubs starting pitcher with an ERA under 5.00) earning his third win of the season. He had some good swing and misses and a good mix of his fastball/changeup/cutter/ combo. He gave his guys five innings only allowing three hits and one run while walking three and striking out four on 88 pitches.
#SurvivingTheBullpen (Rex Brothers, Brandon Workman Andrew Chafin & Craig Kimbrel) held it down the last four innings keeping the Mets scoreless.
Ian Happ (3) Anthony Rizzo (5) and Willson Contreras (8) all saw their hit streaks come to an end.
Final Score - Cubs 3 Mets 1 Summary - The brothers hopped on the board first in the bottom of 3 on what should've been an inning ending 5-3 off the bat of #ILLWILL Willson Contreras. Instead it was a J.D. Davis E5 and Eric Sogard showed a high IQ and scored from second base. 2019 Homerun Derby winner Pete Alonso almost gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the top of 4 but the 3 mph east wind kept the ball inside the Friendly Confines and kept NY scoreless. In the bottom of 4 #JHey Jason Heyward got in his #ELMago bag and swiped second base with 2 outs and Eric Sogard drove him in with a single up the middle. Contreras drew a bases loaded walk to extend the Cubs lead to 3-0. Mets starter Taijuan Walker felt he was being squeezed by home plate umpire John Libka and was ejected from the game. Davis got the Mets in the scoring column the top of 5 with a 432 foot solo bomb into the left field bleachers. The Mets threatened in the top of 9 with the bases loaded and 1 out but Craig Kimbrel picked up his 4th save fanning Brandon Nimmo and getting a Francisco Lindor ground ball to Anthony Rizzo to end the game. Quote(s) of the game - "I'm throwing the ball the way I expect to throw it. There are things I can do better for sure. The pitch count got slightly elevated but I was able to hand the ball to the guys in the pen. We have guys who are capable down there from the left and right side on a night to night basis." - Jake on his outing "Jake's been really good so far for us. His hard work and him being healthy is really paying off for us. When he's right he's one of the best in the game. Him just getting back to his form...he continues to get better each time." - David Ross on Jake so far this season The BIGS Player(s) of the game - Eric Sogard (2-3 RBI & 2 runs scored) Sogard started the season 3-26 but was the key ingredient tonight offensively at the dish and on the base paths.
The Good - Craig Kimbrel allowed his first hit of 2021 and found himself in a 9th inning bases loaded jam but he remained calm and was able to execute pitches down the stretch to earn his 4th save. It was nice to see him overcome a little adversity.
The Bad - Javier Baez (4) & Joc Pederson (3) combined to go 0 for 8 with 7 Ks...Baez now has 31 Ks in 64 plate appearances for a 48% strikeout rate.
The Huff - I looked forward to seeing 2x NL Cy Young winner Jacob DeGrom in the finale of the 3 game set but he asked for an extra day of rest after his last start and will not face the Cubs this series.
Next matchup - Game 2 tonight...first pitch 6:40 pm. Zach Davies on the bump for the Cubs...