Jason Hammel allows 5 homers in Cubs’ 10-2 loss to Mets

NY needs some help. “Up to this point I’ve been throwing the ball really well”.

Bryant’s instant recall of another lesson-worthy play was indicative of how the Cubs handle adversity and defeat.

He was the first Met to hit a grand slam, the first to hit three home runs in a single game, and the first to hit for the cycle – a single, double, triple, and homer in one game. “A tremendous at-bat, I mean, (Joel) Peralta can be really, really tough with the split”. He doesn’t have top velocity – peaked at about 91 in this one – and his command is even worse.

That finally ended the night for deGrom, who walked one and struck out seven. De Aza entered that plate appearance batting.156 in 96 at-bats. The Mets hit consecutive home runs for the ninth time this season, and Cabrera had his first multihomer game since 2013.

Pedro Strop was summoned to face Neil Walker. Nimmo raced to second when centerfielder Albert Almora threw to third trying to get De Aza. It also appears Cesepedes’ home run is the first in a regular season game to land in the stadium’s third deck.

“I think (everyone) said, ‘We’ve got to get it going, ‘ and they did it”. “We’ve got two good pitchers coming up and a chance to split the series”. He had his first major league RBI the night before and scored the go-ahead run.

Titanic hits by Cespedes have come to be more commonplace than not for the slugger.

Second-guessing is easy from my keyboard, I suppose, but in the end I wish Javy hadn’t made that throw. “I was driving to the ballpark and the phone rang”, Maddon said.

And Lackey was dealing.

Colon, with the aid of a couple of nice plays by first baseman James Loney, put up three zeroes before Anthony Rizzo tagged him for a two-run homer to center and a 2-2 tie. A tip o’ the cap to Cespedes. He now has a 3.27 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP on the season.

Then came the ninth against Familia, who had not blown a save all year. He has given up a season-high five runs and five walks over five innings.

Zobrist then launched a Familia fastball toward right-center field.

“We get Juan Lagares back, [Jose] Reyes makes a contribution, who knows where little marginal improvements – hitting with men in scoring position across the board – those are the kinds of things that are going to make a difference over the next three months”. Cubs catcher Willson Contreras is at left.

This was the first time the Mets and Cubs had played each other since last season’s NLCS series, in which NY prevented Chicago from reaching the World Series.

But in Game 2 of the NLCS, the Mets hung a loss on Arrieta, putting themselves on course for a sweep.

The Mets outscored the Cubs 32-11 during the series even though Chicago sent its top four starters – John Lackey, Jason Hammel, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester – to the mound.

It was also the game where Asdrúbal Cabrera hit two homeruns. The Colorado Rockies (37-41) are 5.5 games behind the Dodgers and 2.5 games ahead of the fourth-place Arizona Diamondbacks (36-45).

When the New York Mets stumbled home Wednesday after losing three straight games to the Washington Nationals, there seemed to be a better chance the Mets would be anxious about falling below.500 by the end of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs than talking about a potential sweep of the presumptive World Series favorites.