Chicago Cubs pile on the offense in big win over Mets
Freezing temperatures, wind blowing in. This was Wrigley Field all right.
The Cubs even started Wednesday night's game with a very familiar story - going hitless through three innings against Mets lefty David Peterson.
But then something strange and unexpected happened: A 7-run Cubs inning.
Keep in mind, the Cubs had scored 7 runs in an entire game just once in 16 tries before this game.
That wasn't the end, either. Javy Baez blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning and the Cubs rolled to a 16-4 victory. Their team batting average remained a comical .201 on the season, but in a span of four games, the Cubs have scored 13 runs against Atlanta and now 16 against the Mets.
"It was nice, quality at-bats," Cubs manager David Ross said. "I was happy with guys staying up the middle, a lot of singles. It just told me they're staying up the middle with the right approach. I don't know that we've had that many singles (10) in quite some time. It feels like the things we've seen in the last four, five days have been really good.
"With the cold and the wind blowing in, we need to do the little things. That's championship baseball. That's a formula for success."
With one out in the fourth, Willson Contreras broke up Peterson's no-hitter with an infield single to short. Kris Bryant then did a nice job of working an 0-2 count to 3-2 and driving a single to center. Anthony Rizzo followed with an RBI single and the Cubs were on the board.
They got some help, too. Baez followed with a potential double-play ball that third baseman J.D. Davis bobbled for an error, loading the bases. Matt Duffy then walked to force in the tying run.
David Bote was up next and lifted a bloop single to short right field. Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil tried to fake the Cubs into thinking he would catch it, but Baez never slowed down and scored about two steps behind Rizzo to put the Cubs ahead 4-2.
After an RBI ground out by Jake Marisnick, Eric Sogard delivered a pinch-hit RBI single, then an Ian Happ infield hit plus throwing error plated Sogard with the seventh run.
Duffy, getting a spot start at third base, added a 2-run single in the fifth. The Mets thought it would be fun to send utility infielder Luis Guillorme to the mound in the eighth, and he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk.
The Mets (7-6) collected most of their runs on homers by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.
One troubling sign was the third straight non-quality start from Zach Davies. His last two outings lasted just 4 innings and the one before that he left in the second. At least his season ERA dropped a bit with this outing to 8.80.
No one expected Davies to replace Yu Darvish, since the trade with San Diego was mainly a salary dump by the Cubs. But they were hoping for something resembling a reliable starter. Davies actually had the best performance of his seven big-league seasons last year for the Padres, going 7-4 with a 2.73 ERA.
The bullpen had mixed results. Rex Brothers ended as run of five straight scoreless appearances by giving up 2 runs. Alec Mills did most of the work, tossing 3 shutout innings.
The victory pushed the Cubs' record to 8-9. They can get back to .500 with another win over New York on Thursday and won't even have to face 2020 Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, because the Mets pushed him back to Friday to face division-rival Washington. The Mets plan to start Joey Lucchesi in the series finale.
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