Hammel, Chicago Cubs fall big to Mets
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jason Hammel had to "wear one" Friday night.
With a bullpen that has been beat up and beleaguered, Cubs manager Joe Maddon stuck with Hammel as long as he possibly could in the second game of a four-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Those were 4 of the longest innings of Hammel's career, as he gave up 9 hits and 10 runs, including 5 home runs, including 2 to Asdrubal Cabrera.
The game was delayed three times, the third delay coming in the top of the sixth inning with the Cubs down 10-1. The game ended with the Mets winning 10-2.
Hammel's earned run average rose from 2.58 to 3.45.
The Cubs opened July coming off a June in which they went 16-12, including a series-opening loss to the Mets on Thursday.
Making things more difficult for the Cubs is that they're in the latter stages of a stretch in which they play games on 24 consecutive days. For that reason, and to give their starting rotation a break, they're stretching out pitcher Adam Warren at Class AAA Iowa to get him a start on the upcoming homestand, which begins next Monday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Even so, Cubs manager Joe Maddon seems to like where his team is sitting. The Cubs entered Friday first in the National League Central, 11 games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.
Before Friday's game he told reporters in the dugout: "Honestly, it's kind of difficult to maintain that .700 pace. Everybody keeps talking about it. I'm just looking at winning series."
The Cubs went 17-5 in April and 18-10 in May, and the starting-pitching staff took a 2.54 ERA into Friday.
"I think the staff can sustain it," Maddon said. "We're talking about the starters. First of all, their pitch (count) numbers are good. Their inning numbers are good. We're going to try to fit a sixth guy (Warren) in there just to give them a break.
"We have the all-star break coming up. I think they're going to be OK because we've been very, very aware of not putting too much on their plate in the first half, and they've all performed very well. There's been no little nicks, bruises, injuries of any kind, so I anticipate just be being vigilant that you're going to see the same kind of performance in the second half - I think."
Hammel worked a 1-2-3 first inning before giving up back-to-back homers to James Loney and Cabrera to begin the second. Loney hit a 2-run double in the third.
Kris Bryant got the first Cubs hit off Mets starter Jacob deGrom, as he launched his 23rd home run of the season, with one out in the fourth.
The Mets began to break things open in the fourth. Brandon Nimmo hit his first big-league homer in the fourth, a 3-run shot to right-center. In the fifth, Yoenis Cespedes led off with his 20th homer. After Loney singled, Cabrera homered to chase Hammel.
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