Fans of Norway’s national football team were in town after their win against Senegal on Monday. For some reason, they thought why not come to a Mets game? They didn’t know much about baseball, knew less about the terrible energy that the Mets have brought lately, and were just there to have a good time. Honestly, it was refreshing to watch them have fun for a while instead of focusing on the Mets’ collapse yet again as they lost 10-3 against the Cubs in the first game of today’s split doubleheader.
Nolan McLean started strong in the first inning, walking Michael Busch but otherwise striking out the side. Carson Benge responded with a leadoff double and made it to third on a flyout by A.J. Ewing. He was stranded there, after a pair of strikeouts by Bo Bichette and Jared Young, though. At the top of the second inning, McLean allowed a double to Ian Happ, who moved to third on a groundout by Nico Hoerner, but then was stranded as well.
Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty both drew walks to start the bottom of the second inning. After Marcus Semien once again received a second chance at his at-bat on a dropped foul ball, he grounded into a double play that snagged Baty at second base as well. M.J. Melendez hit another ball into foul territory, this one into right field, that Happ could not corral, keeping Melendez’s at-bat alive only for him to strike out, leaving Alvarez stranded at third base and ending the second inning 0-0.
At the top of the fourth inning, McLean hit Michael Busch in the knee. After Seiya Suzuki grounded into a forceout, McLean hit Happ on the hip. However, Hoerner grounded out, and McLean managed to strand the runners at second and third with a strikeout of Pedro Ramírez. At the bottom of the fourth, Bo Bichette smacked a line drive to left field for a single. Jared Young followed up by hitting a two-run home run to the opposite field, and Alvarez was not to be outdone with his own dinger to the upper seats in center field. Melendez tapped a single into right field, but the inning ended when Luis Torrens popped out. The Mets led at the end of the fourth, 3-0, but that would go away.
At the top of the fifth, Crow-Armstrong smacked a two-out single, and Conforto followed him with an RBI double. Busch drove a two-run homer into right field, tying the game immediately after. Suzuki grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done. At the top of the sixth, Hoerner hit a fly ball for a double, and Miguel Amaya tapped an infield single to Bichette, who could not get it to first base in time, but still made sure that Hoerner only made it to third. All was for nought, as McLean allowed a three-run home run to Dansby Swanson. McLean struck out Crow-Armstrong to end the top of the sixth and his outing, but the Cubs now led 6-3.
At the bottom of the sixth, Mark Vientos came in to pinch-hit for Jared Young and promptly burned an ABS challenge to walk anyway. Alvarez lined a single into center field, and Eric Wagaman, pinch-hitting for Baty, grounded into a double play, leaving just Vientos on third base with two outs. Semien flied out to end the sixth inning and once again strand the runner on third base. Jonathan Pintaro, the 27th man for the doubleheader, replaced McLean at the top of the seventh inning and worked a 1-2-3 inning. Benge snuck a two-out single into right field in the bottom of the seventh, but Ewing popped out to end the inning right after as the Mets continued to lose all of their offensive momentum.
Pintaro returned for the eighth and gave up a four-pitch walk to Happ to lead off the inning. He walked Hoerner as well, and Ramírez executed a sacrifice bunt and moved the runners up a base. Then Pintaro hit Amaya to load the bases with only one out and bring up Swanson, which might as well happen at this point. Sure enough, Swanson hit a grand slam, the second Pintaro has given up this year. Justin Dean singled with two outs, but Pintaro finally, mercifully, ended things by striking out Busch. Mets batters went down in order in the bottom of the inning, leaving the score Cubs 10, Mets 3.
Austin Warren came out for the ninth inning and shut the Cubs’ batters down in order as well, leaving it up to the Mets’ offense in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets responded with nothing as they lost 10-3 to the Cubs for their fifth loss in a row.
The next game of this doubleheader starts at 7:10 PM, as Sean Manaea faces off against Shota Imanaga. Francisco Lindor will also be making his return, appearing in a major league game for the first time since April 22.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Francisco Alvarez, +19% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nolan McLean, -43% WPA
Mets pitchers: -47% WPA
Mets hitters: -3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young’s 2-run dinger, +19.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Dansby Swanson’s 3-run dinger, -35.6% WPA
