Observations: Mets' defense giveth, Cubs taketh originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Cubs crushed the Mets 16-4 on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, improving to 8-9 on the season.
Here’s 10 observations from the game.
1. No actual chickens were harmed in the leading off of Wednesday’s game for the Cubs. Outfielder Ian Happ struck out to start the game.
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2. Happ talked pregame about needing to “trust the baseball gods” to break out of his early slump. They were on his team’s side in the fourth inning, when the Cubs scored seven times via six singles, a ground out, a walk and three errors, taking a 7-2 lead.
Five of the balls in play registered exit velocities under 80 mph.
3. Seven runs scored in the fourth is the Cubs’ most in a single inning since Sept. 27, 2019 against the Cardinals (also seven).
4. Mets third baseman J.D. Davis will want to forget about this series. He picked up New York’s first error in the fourth, booting a Javy Báez ground ball with one out and the Mets leading 2-1. Davis also made two errors on Tuesday.
5. The Cubs made the Mets pay for their defensive woes again in the fifth inning. Willson Contreras turned a slow-rolling ground ball behind second base into a double after Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil failed to knock it down.
The Cubs scored three times in the inning after that. The Mets finished with four errors on the night.
6. After Francisco Lindor opened Wednesday’s scoring with a first-inning solo home run, it felt like Báez would do something to match his good friend. The Cubs shortstop not only went deep but crushed his sixth career grand slam to put the game out of reach.
7. For all the Cubs’ soft contact, the Mets made a lot of hard contact off Zach Davies. Nine of their 15 balls in play off the Cubs started registered an exit velocity above 93 mph — seven of those above 100 mph.
8. Davies has had trouble pitching deep into games to start his Cubs tenure. He's now thrown less than five innings in all but one of his four starts this season, including three straight.
Ross pinch hit Eric Sogard for his starter in the fourth, ending Davies’ day after four innings of five-hit, two-run ball.
9. The Cubs scored 34 times total in their first 13 games. They’ve scored 36 across their past four games, Wednesday’s 14 being a season high.
10. The Cubs won't end the season with one series win. They secured their second of the season with Wednesday’s victory and their first since opening weekend. They lost four straight series in between.
Bonus: Báez is a naturally lefty and had taken a few plate appearances from the left-handed batter's box in his career. He did so again Wednesday, flying out to left field in the eight.
Next up: The Cubs and Mets conclude their three-game series on Wednesday at Wrigley Field. First pitch is 6:40 p.m. CT, and Joey Lucchesi (0-1, 5.40 ERA) and Trevor Williams (2-1, 5.02 ERA) are the probable starters.
