Mets journey 2 homers to win over Cubs, retain wild-card edge

Brett Baty belted a three-run homer, Francisco Lindor also went deep and rookie Nolan McLean struck out 11 batters, fueling the visiting New York Mets to an 8-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

The Mets (82-77) won the decisive contest of the three-game series to remain one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds (81-78) for the final National League wild-card spot. The Reds, who own the tiebreaker over New York, recorded a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier on Thursday.

Lindor recorded his second career 30-homer, 30-stolen base season after his solo shot in the third inning sailed over the wall in left field and onto Waveland Avenue. Lindor had 31 homers and 31 stolen bases in 2023. This year, he has 31 steals.

Seiya Suzuki launched a solo shot in the fourth inning, his first homer since Aug. 6, and added a three-run blast in the sixth to chase McLean (5-1), who also surrendered a solo homer to Dansby Swanson.

McLean allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. His strikeout total was the highest in his eight major league outings.

Three relievers bridged the gap to Edwin Diaz, who retired the side in the ninth inning to secure his 28th save of the season.

Tyrone Taylor ripped a two-run double and Brandon Nimmo had an RBI single among his three hits as New York handed Chicago (89-70) its sixth loss in the past seven games.

Lindor drew a leadoff walk off Shota Imanaga (9-8) to open the game, advanced to third on a one-out double by Pete Alonso and scored on Mark Vientos’ foulout. Alonso advanced to third on that play and scored on Nimmo’s single to right field.

Lindor’s third homer in four games gave New York a 3-0 lead in the third, and Baty doubled that advantage with one swing of the bat in the fourth. Baty deposited a 0-1 fastball from Imanaga over the wall in left field for his 18th homer of the season.

Solo shots by Suzuki and Swanson trimmed the Mets’ lead to 6-2 before Taylor restored a six-run edge for his team with a two-run double in the sixth inning. That spelled the end of the evening for Imanaga, who permitted eight runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. Imanaga fanned three and walked one.

–Field Level Media