The Chicago Cubs went into a brief three-game road trip looking at some of the best pitchers in the National League, but now they’re looking at three straight wins after beating the New York Mets to complete a series sweep on Thursday night.
After besting Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard in the first two games of the series, the Cubs outduelled Jacob deGrom on Thursday night, notching four earned runs in seven innings against the talented right-hander.
Meanwhile, Jon Lester pitched six innings of one run baseball, and Craig Kimbrel nailed down the save to give the Cubs a sweep after they were swept in their last series at Wrigley Field.
Victor Caratini drove in all four Cubs runs, as he notched the first multi-home run game of his major league career. He added another hit in the ninth inning for good measure to help the Cubs to a much-needed victory.
The victory puts the Cubs a game and a half behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central Division, and gives them a two and a half game cushion over the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild card race.
Despite Nicholas Castellanos and Jason Heyward going a combined 0-for-8 with three strikeouts, the Cubs’ offense still managed to put together a four-run night, as Kris Bryant and Javier Báez each registered base hits. Addison Russell had the other Cubs hit in the game, but the big star was Caratini, as he went 3-for-4 on the evening.
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After J.D. Davis hit a solo home run to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Cubs answered right back, as Caratini smacked a solo homer of his own to right field to knot things up at 1-1 in the second.
That score held until the seventh inning, when Caratini stepped up to the plate with Bryant and Báez on base. The lefty ripped his second home run of the game into the bleachers, giving the Cubs a 4-1 lead that they would never relinquish.
The Cubs will now have to scurry home, as they will take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game series at Wrigley Field this weekend. First pitch on Friday will take place at 1:20 p.m.
