Cubs 10, Mets 5: Dansby Swanson leads the team to a doubleheader sweep

I’ve always been a fan of Dansby Swanson. He plays elite defense and, up to this year, his bat always played well enough.

This season, Swanson got off to a very slow start. He had a decent run for a few weeks in April, then went into an extended slump that had him batting .175/.281/.306 after last Tuesday’s loss to the Rockies at Wrigley Field.

I’m not sure what’s gotten into Swanson over the last six games but let’s hope this hot streak sticks around. After driving in seven runs in the doubleheader

opener Tuesday afternoon with a three-run homer and grand slam, Swanson went 3-for-5 with four RBI in the nightcap, helping lead the Cubs to a 10-5 win over the Mets and a doubleheader sweep.

Also, the Mets are a really, really bad defensive team. They made six errors in this game, making half the Cubs’ 10 runs unearned. It was the first time any team had made six errors in a game against the Cubs since the Pirates made seven errors Sept. 7, 2012, a game the Cubs won 12-2. In fact, this is so rare in modern baseball that it hadn’t happened in seven years. Before this game, the last time any team had made six errors in a game was… the Cubs, on April 1, 2019, in Atlanta.

Before I get to the facts of this game, you need to read this. A team record was set by Swanson in the doubleheader — details from BCB’s JohnW53:

Dansby Swanson’s 11 RBI on Wednesday are the most since 1901 by a Cub in a doubleheader.

Billy Williams had nine (two, then seven) on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 1968, at home vs. the Braves.
In the first game, he singled home one run each in the third and seventh. After the second one, Ernie Banks homered to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead, and that is how the game ended.

Williams hit a two-run homer in the third inning of the second game, added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to tie the score at 5, broke the tie with a two-run single in the sixth and doubled home two runs in the eighth to make the score 9-5. The Cubs won, 11-5.

That record stood for less than two years, until Monday, July 6, 1970, when Ron Santo drove in 10 (two, then eight) at home vs. the Expos. He smacked a two-run, fourth-inning homer as the Cubs won the opener, 3-2.

Then he knocked in eight in the rematch, with a grand slam in the first, a bases-loaded walk in the fourth and a three-run homer in the sixth. He came up in the seventh with runners on first and second, and one out, and grounded into a double play. The Cubs won, 14-2.

No Cub had more than seven after Santo until Swanson on Wednesday. Williams had seven on Aug. 8, 1971, and Ryne Sandberg had seven on June 13, 1990.

Now, let’s begin at the beginning.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second on a pair of doubles. Nico Hoerner was first, then Carson Kelly drove in Nico [VIDEO].

The Mets came back with a three-run second off Shōta Imanaga. Unfortunately, all three of the runs scored on homers, which has been an issue for Imanaga all year. Francisco Alvarez hit a solo shot and after a single, A.J. Ewing hit a three-run blast.

The Cubs didn’t wait too long to take the lead back. In the top of the fourth, Hoerner doubled for the second time in the game. Kelly reached on the Mets’ second error of the game, with Hoerner taking third.

A single by Pedro Ramirez scored Nico [VIDEO].

A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Swanson then singled in Kelly to tie the game 3-3 [VIDEO].

Ramirez took third on that hit and scored on this excuse-me bunt by Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

As you will hear in comments from Swanson below, PCA was actually trying to do that — he’s been practicing it, according to Dansby.

The Mets tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with another home run off Imanaga, this one a solo shot by Mark Vientos. About all the homers given up by Imanaga, from John:

This was the 10th game in his three-season career as a Cub in which Shota Imanaga has surrendered at least three home runs.

That ties him with Steve Trachsel (1994-99) and Kyle Hendricks (2015-23) for the third most by any Cub since 1901.

Ferguson Jenkins did it 11 times in 1966-73 (never in his return in 1982-83) and Warre Hacker did it 12 times in 1950-56.
Hacker made 140 starts; Jenkins, 347; Trachsel, 190; and Hendricks, 270. This was just Imanaga’s 70th.

The Cubs took the lead back in the top of the sixth. Ramirez led off with a double and Swanson, again, came through, this time with a triple [VIDEO].

After PCA walked — that gives him eight walks in his last six games — Matt Shaw hit into a force play, scoring Swanson [VIDEO].

Imanaga was left in to face Francisco Lindor to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Shōta retired Lindor and then gave way to Gavin Hollowell to face Bo Bichette.

Didn’t matter. Bichette homered anyway, off Hollowell, to make it 6-5. Hollowell finished off the rest of the sixth without incident, and Hoby Milner threw a scoreless seventh.

The Cubs increased their lead to 7-5 in the eighth thanks to two Mets errors. Ramirez reached on the first one, by Bichette, then stole second. One out later, this happened [VIDEO].

The Mets defense was just awful. Just you wait, there’s more of that to come.

Trent Thornton threw a scoreless eighth and then the Cubs put the game away in the ninth. And all of it happened after the first two Cubs were routine outs.

Hoerner doubled, his third two-base hit of the game. This is, we hope, a good sign for Nico, who has been in a terrible slump for two months. His 21 doubles are now tied for third in MLB.

Kelly followed, reaching on an error by Vientos, with Hoerner taking third.

Another single by Ramirez scored Nico [VIDEO].

That wasn’t an error on Marcus Semien, but it could have been — that’s just poor defense. Kelly took third, and Ramirez moved up to second on his second steal of the game.

Swanson drove in both runners with this hit [VIDEO].

Jacob Webb threw the ninth. He issued a pair of two-out walks, then, appropriately, Swanson caught the ball for the final out [VIDEO].

Here are a couple of amazing run-scoring facts from John. First, on scoring six or more runs in consecutive games:

The Cubs have scored at least six runs in six consecutive games. They had not had a streak that long in more than 26 years, since they had six in a row April 22-28, 2000. That was the last of 10 previous streaks that ended at six.

Their last of more than six was eight, April 16-26, 1970. They had had eight three times before, in 1920, 1925 and 1930.

The team record since 1901 is nine, done twice: Aug. 31-Sept. 8, 1929, and June 29-July 5, 1937

And, on scoring in double digits in both games of the doubleheader:

The Cubs had not scored at least 10 runs in both games of a doubleheader in more than 82 years, since May 21, 1944, when they beat the Braves at Wrigley Field by 15-1 and 14-5. The second game was called after eight innings.

They had done it in only five earlier doubleheaders:
Aug. 21, 1935: lost, 13-12, and won, 19-5, at Philadelphia
Aug. 6, 1932: won, 10-9 and 10-8 in 11 innings, at Philadelphia
Sept. 2, 1929: won, 11-7 and 12-10, at home vs. Cardinals
Sept. 26, 1912: won, 11-10 and 10-0, at home vs. Reds (second game six innings)
May 30, 1908: won, 10-2 and 11-2, at St. Louis

So, Wednesday was the seventh time, fourth on the road and first sweep on the road in nine-inning games in 118 years and 27 days.

Wednesday’s doubleheader was the Cubs’ 858th since their last with two double-digit games and their 421st on the road.

Also, check this out. Seven hits with RISP is excellent for one game, but having 25 at-bats with RISP in one game is just an insanely large number.

Here’s Swanson on his big day and series [VIDEO].

And here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

I have written here before on how much defense matters. The Cubs have elite defense at almost every position. The Mets are, to be blunt, terrible. It showed in this game. Errors aren’t the only measure, either. You can read almost every defensive metric available and it will show how far superior the Cubs are to the Mets. Further, this elite defense might help David Peterson, who the Cubs just acquired from the Mets in trade. We’ll likely find out more about that this weekend in Milwaukee, because I suspect Peterson will start one of the games against the Brewers.

In the meantime, the Cubs can go for an unlikely sweep of the Mets Thursday evening at Citi Field. Matthew Boyd will be activated from the injured list to start this game for the Cubs. The Mets will counter with Freddy Peralta. Game time is again 6:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.