The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets opened their four-game series in Queens on Monday night. Both starting pitchers were dealing in this one: Luis Severino for New York and Jameson Taillon for Chicago. Both pitchers were cutting up hitters quickly, allowing them to get past the seventh inning, something not often seen in MLB these days.
The game was decided by the bullpens after each starter allowed only one run. New York closer Edwin Díaz allowed Christopher Morel a ninth-inning two-run home run. Impromptu Chicago closer Héctor Neris walked two but ultimately shut down the bottom of the Mets batting order to secure the 3-1 victory.
Pitchers Duel in NL Tilt
https://gty.im/2150763835
Luis Severino had the baseball world on high alert into the waning innings of Monday night’s battle between the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. Severino hadn’t allowed a hit to one of the National League’s better lineups through seven.
Attacking hitters early with his fastball/slider combo, he was able to move through the order efficiently, keeping his pitch count down. Whether the batter was right-handed or left-handed, Severino found success throwing his slider to his glove side, registering weak contact and swings and misses.
Severino’s first jam came in the eighth when he found himself with runners at the corners after giving up his first hit to Dansby Swanson. Nick Madrigal pinch-hit for catcher Yan Gomes and sputtered a broken-bat grounder down to third. The exit velocity of the weak hit let Madrigal hustle down the line and by the time the Mets tried to turn the double play, Madrigal was able to beat it out, and Michael Busch scored to tie the game at 1-1.
The only problem for Severino was that Cubs starter Jameson Taillon was nearly matching his performance. A lead-off home run from Brandon Nimmo was the only blemish on Taillon’s ledger, and he kept his pitch count even lower than Severino’s. Taillon came out of the game after Tomas Nico reached on an infield single in the eighth inning, having only thrown 78 pitches.
In his third outing of the season, Taillon dazzled again with his command, something that was sorely lacking from his 2023 campaign and led to his disappointing output. His ability to mix his pitches with speed, movement, and placement helped generate weak ground balls and lazy fly balls, with the early exception of the Nimmo long ball. Cubs fans are hoping Monday night wasn’t an aberration for the 32-year-old right-hander.
Diaz Gives Up Lead on Morel Bomb
https://gty.im/2150773172
Mark Leiter Jr. came in for Taillon and stranded Nido to get to the ninth inning. In the tie game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza opted to go with closer Edwin Díaz. Diaz was looking sharp until he hit Mike Tauchman with a breaking ball that hit Tauchman’s back foot. Two hitters later, Christopher Morel came to the dish.
The scouting report hasn’t been kind to Morel in recent weeks. Fastballs that run in and breaking balls that fall out of the zone have been almost exclusively what Morel sees from opposing pitchers. Sure enough, this ninth-inning battle started with a fastball that ran in on Morel’s hands, but he was able to lay off. Morel also laid off the breaking ball that darted to Diaz’s glove side and below the zone.
Forcing the New York closer to come in the zone, Morel squared up a Díaz fastball and deposited it 402 feet away in the left field bleachers. It was Morel’s first home run since April 9th. Diaz finished the inning but gave Héctor Neris a window to close the game for the Cubs.
After walking Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil, Neris was able to control his splitter, striking out the final two hitters of the ball game and securing the game for the Cubs. For Neris, it was his fourth save of the year. He recently took over the closing duties from Adbert Alzolay after Alzolay struggled to finish games early on.
Looking Ahead
https://gty.im/2150762067
The 3-1 Chicago victory was the first game of a four-game series between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.
Also Read: Chicago Cubs: Cy Young Hopeful to be Sidelined for a Month, Chicago Cubs Slugger, Rejected by Dodgers, on Four-Homer Tear, Chicago Cubs Lose 2023 Silver Slugger to Injured List
New on MLB: Baltimore Orioles Demote Number One Prospect after Big League Struggles
