CHICAGO — Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, the Mets showed they aren’t willing to go down without a fight.
There were three lead changes and two ties before Francisco Alvarez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the top of the eighth. A 9-7 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field keeps the Mets playoff hopes alive for at least another night.
“The guys battled back,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Two big swings right there, one from [Brandon] Nimmo and one from Alvy. We needed that.”
Without it, the Mets would have squandered an opportunity to jump back into the NL Wild Card standings. The Cincinnati Reds (80-77) gifted the Mets (81-76) a spot in the standings with a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and are now 1.0 game behind the Amazins’.
“Amazing team win,” said left-hander David Peterson. “Can’t say enough about the bullpen, they stepped up big and I don’t have enough words to show my appreciation for what they did. They picked me up big time. The offense picked it up and kept us in the game.”
The bullpen was nearly emptied in the first game of a six-game road trip through Chicago and Miami after Peterson imploded early, giving up five earned runs over only 1 1/3 innings. His ERA over his last nine games is 8.42, but still, the Mets are sticking with him. He might not get another start this week, but the club considers it to be an “all-hands-on-deck” situation, so Peterson, and pretty much every other pitcher on the roster, will have to pitch.
“It wasn’t a good one today, but our job is to continue to support him,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to play a big role here in the next few days, so we’re counting on him.”
The Mets erased a five-run deficit to tie the game in the fifth before going ahead in the sixth with Nimmo’s three-run homer. The Cubs (88-69), the Wild Card leaders who already punched their ticket to the playoffs, came right back to tie in the bottom of the inning.
Then, in the top of the eighth with one on and two out, Alvarez took a 3-1 fastball from left-hander Caleb Thielbar and drove it over the ivy and into the left field seats. Alvarez’s 10th home run of the season was quite possibly the most clutch one anyone in a Mets uniform has hit all season.
As soon as the ball hit the stands, Alvarez turned toward the Mets dugout and yelled to his teammates in excitement as he pumped his fists. He flexed his biceps as he rounded the bases.
“I was super excited for the moment,” Alvarez said. “We took the lead in that eighth inning, and I knew that Sugar [closer Edwin Diaz] was coming into the game, and he was going to stay in the game.”
Despite having pitched twice in the last three days already, Diaz pitched two innings for the save (27), retiring the side quickly after the Mets took the lead for a final time. He needed only 12 pitches in the eighth, and used 15 in the ninth.
“Just get outs,” Diaz said of the mentality among the relievers. “I think every single guy in the bullpen knows what they have to do to get outs.”
The Mets aren’t playing anything conservative this week.
“I can’t be thinking about tomorrow,” Mendoza said. “I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do here to win today, and then we’re about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
There were sloppy errors and misplayed balls from both teams.
Peterson allowed a single and a stolen base in the bottom of the first inning, and with two outs, he walked cleanup hitter Carson Kelly. A fly ball by Carlos Santana sailed over Juan Soto’s head in right field for a double. The misplayed ball cost the Mets two runs, and the Cubs took a 2-1 lead.
It grew to 5-1 in the second. The Mets had no choice but to bring in Huascar Brazobán, who gave up a run of his own in the fourth to make the score 6-1.
Jeff McNeil made two straight errors in the fourth to give the Cubs an insurance run.
However, it was clear that some of the mistakes and misplays were the result of the Mets trying too hard. The Reds and Diamondbacks own the head-to-head tiebreakers over the Mets, making for some extremely thin margins.
They used that frustration against Mike Soroka and Taylor Rogers in the top of the fifth, when they scored five times to tie the game at 6-6. Rogers, the left-handed brother of Mets reliever Tyler Rogers, came in to face the left-handed Nimmo with two on and two out. Nimmo (2-for-5, home run, three RBI) took him deep to right field for the game-tying homer.
Tyler Rogers was one of six relievers used by the Mets. Five pitched scoreless innings.
“I think that as much as I feel about my personal effort, this is the team that we have, and we’re going to stick together and guys are going to pick each other up,” Peterson said. “I’m extremely grateful and proud to be a part of it.”
Cubs starter Cade Horton was removed after three innings with back tightness. The Mets managed only one run off of him on two hits.
Neither team looked ready for the playoffs in this tilt, but the Mets made it known that they’re not ready to give up.
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