Game Thirty-Three – Cubs 2, Mets 1
WP – Hector Rondon (2-0) LP – Carlos Torres (1-2, BS 1) Save – None
After the Cubs tied the game in the eighth inning, Chris Coghlan worked a bases loaded walk in the ninth inning that forced in the winning run as the Cubs beat the Mets in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night at the old ballyard.
Anthony Rizzo led off the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at one. Rizzo singled to right center on a 3-2 pitch. Joe Maddon sent Matt Szczur in to run for Rizzo and called for a hit and run on the second pitch to Starlin Castro. Szczur advanced to third on a single to left by Starlin Castro. Miguel Montero was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. And Terry Collins went to the pen for his closer, Jeurys Familia.
Jorge Soler struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch for the first out.
Chris Coghlan showed a lot of patience and worked a 3-1 count before taking ball four. Matt Szczur trotted in from third and the Cubs celebrated their third win over the Mets in as many days.
Wednesday was the first time this season the Mets lost a game when leading after the seventh inning (17-1).
After being handled for seven innings and shut out by Matt Harvey, the Cubs trailed 1-0 going into the eighth inning.
Addison Russell (2-for-3 with a double and a run scored) singled to right with one out in the eighth. Russell moved up to second base on a wild pitch from Carlos Torres. Dexter Fowler (1-for-4 with a RBI) singled to right. Gary Jones waived in Russell and he scored to tie the game at one. Fowler rounded first and was on his way to second when Lucas Duda cut the ball off. Duda threw to Wilmer Flores, who ran Fowler back toward first and tagged him out.
Hector Rondon recorded the last two outs in the ninth after a single by Lucas Duda and a sac bunt from Wilmer Flores put the go ahead run in scoring position. Rondon struck out Kirk Nieuwenhuis swinging to end the inning and sent the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied at one.
Anthony Rizzo (1-for-2 with a walk and a HBP) was on-base three more times Wednesday and his leadoff single in the ninth gave the Cubs a chance to win the game in nine innings.
The Cubs managed only three hits off Matt Harvey and seven on the night with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Starlin Castro (1-for-4), Miguel Montero (1-for-2 with two walks) and Kris Bryant (1-for-4) collected hits in Wednesday’s victory, none bigger that Castro’s single in the ninth.
Jason Hammel put together an excellent outing. Hammel wiggled out of a first inning jam when the Mets loaded the bases with one out and did not score. Hammel settled in after the first, found a rhythm with Miguel Montero and limited the Mets to one run over eight innings. Hammel went toe to toe with Matt Harvey and put his team in position to win the game.
Jason Hammel recorded an ultra-quality start Wednesday night after allowing one run on five hits with one walk, two HBP and six strikeouts. Hammel threw 97 pitches, 68 for strikes, in eight innings.
The Cubs defense really stepped up and turned two double plays. And one was rather impressive. With the Mets up by one in the seventh, Dilson Herrera reached on a single to center with one down. Matt Harvey popped up a bunt attempt and did not run, or even job out of the box. Anthony Rizzo acted like he was going to catch the ball, let it drop and started a 3-6-4 double play to end the inning.
With Wednesday’s win, the Cubs improved to 18-15 on the season.
Travis Wood takes on fellow lefty Jon Niese in the series finale with the Mets on Thursday afternoon (1:20pm CDT).