Alonso, McNeil homer to power Mets to series win over Cubs

On a night where David Wright and Hank Azaria were in the ballpark, the Mets beat the Cubs 4-3.

Tonight’s game did not get off to a great start, as the very first pitch David Peterson threw was hit out of the ballpark by Christopher Morel to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. The Cubs then tacked on another run against Peterson in the second inning off a wild pitch, making it seem it may be a long night at Citi Field. This did not end up being the case, as Peterson settled in a bit to give the team 3.2 innings before the Mets’ bullpen did the rest, throwing 5.1 innings of one-run ball.

At the plate, Pete Alonso continued his torrid series against Chicago, tying the game with a monstrous two-run shot in the fourth inning off Cubs’ starter Kyle Hendricks. In the sixth inning, Jeff McNeil continued to show signs of breaking out of his slump, hitting a go-ahead solo home run, making it 3-2. They then scored another run that inning, to make it 4-2.

The Mets’ bullpen then cruised after this, up until the 9th inning where Adam Ottavino gave up a solo homer to make it 4-3. After allowing two more runners to reach base, Buck Showalter pulled Ottavino in favor of Phil Bickford to get three outs for the save. Bickford rose to the occasion, despite having the bases loaded, striking out two batters to secure the win for the Mets.

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Phil Bickford, +43% WPA
Big Mets loser: Adam Ottavino, -36% WPA
Mets pitchers: +24% WPA
Mets hitters: +26% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s two-run homer, 22.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Christopher Morel’s solo homer in the first inning, -10.7%