1st-inning HR is Marcus’ only blemish but Mets get blanked by Cubs, who avoid sweep
The Mets were one game away from finishing off a sweep of the Cubs. Then Kyle Hendricks got in the way.
The Cubs’ soft-throwing right-handed pitcher shutout the Mets offense through six innings, leading to the Amazin’s 2-0 loss on Thursday night at Citi Field. Hendricks punched out seven batters and retired his final eight against a Mets lineup that struggled to barrel the ball beyond the infield dirt. Not even Pete Alonso, who struck out chasing a 73.5 mph curveball in the first inning, could stop Hendricks from collecting his seventh straight win.
“He did what he does,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said of Hendricks. “We just didn’t build the momentum when we created the couple scenarios to score. That’s something that’s gone well for us lately and it just didn’t happen tonight. He pitched really well against us.”
The Mets (35-26) took three out of four from the Cubs and went 5-2 on their homestand that started with a competitive series against the Padres. They head to Nationals Park for a four-game set on Friday before opening on Monday an eight-game homestand across six days, complete with doubleheaders against the Braves and Phillies.
Marcus Stroman did his best to keep Mets bats within easy striking distance of Chicago, but with his lack of run support you’d think it was Jacob deGrom on the mound.
Stroman pitched seven strong innings and retired his final 11 batters in another solid performance from the ground-ball pitcher. He struck out eight and limited the Cubs to four hits, one of them a two-run home run to Javier Baez in the first inning. Those were the only two runs the right-hander allowed to cross the plate over his 92 pitches.
“I gotta be better in the first,” Stroman said. “I think if I come out there and put up a zero, that gives our offense a little bit more momentum. To put us in a deficit early on, you never want to do that. So that one’s on me tonight.”
He received help from his defense on multiple occasions from a Kevin Pillar catch against the center-field wall that robbed Baez of extra bases, and later a spectacular Alonso play. The first baseman scooped a scorched line drive, off the bat at 100.3 mph, in the dirt just beyond first base. With Stroman hustling over to the bag, Alonso took it himself and slid glove-first for the tag and the out. Stroman banged his fists against Alonso’s chest in celebration as he helped him up.
The silver lining despite the Mets’ loss was Stroman’s continued success. His 2.35 ERA across 14 starts is the product of consistency. Stroman has surrendered three runs or less in each of his last six straight starts. The Medford, NY native has allowed two earned runs or fewer and pitched five innings or more in 11 of his 14 starts this year. And in a season full of injuries, Stroman has been a workhorse who’s stayed healthy in a delicate rotation that’s seen IL stints for deGrom, Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco.
“We lost this one tonight and it’s a tough one,” Rojas said. “But we’re playing pretty good baseball. I think that’s why now, after the homestand, we look back and we faced two good teams, and we’re not surprised. We’re just playing pretty good, from a defensive standpoint, from a pitching standpoint and the timely hitting. Today just the timely hitting just wasn’t there.”