CHICAGO. – Dominican Juan Soto shined again with the bat by hitting his home run number 43 of the season and reaching 105 RBIs, but his New York Mets couldn’t avoid the 10-3 defeat against the Chicago Cubs this Wednesday.
The stellar outfielder momentarily cut the lead with his solo hit, while catcher Francisco Álvarez added two RBIs for the Mets, who barely connected four hits all night. Despite the setback, New York remains in the fight for the last wild card in the National League, one game above Cincinnati and in direct contention with Arizona.
The Cubs, already qualified for the playoffs, broke a losing streak of five consecutive defeats supported by a timely offense and solid pitching. Matt Shaw and Michael Busch hit home runs, while Matthew Boyd (14-8) worked 5.1 innings allowing only two hits to earn the victory.
Rookie right-hander Jonah Tong (2-3) took the loss after allowing five runs and seven hits in just two innings.
The key moment came in the third inning, when Chicago put together a five-run rally against Tong, capped by a run-scoring double from Ian Happ with the bases loaded. From then on, the home offense gave no respite.
The Mets will have to react in the last games of the regular season if they want to secure their ticket to the postseason, while the Cubs consolidated their position as the first wild card with a 2.5-game lead over San Diego.
The stellar outfielder momentarily cut the lead with his solo hit, while catcher Francisco Álvarez added two RBIs for the Mets, who barely connected four hits all night. Despite the setback, New York remains in the fight for the last wild card in the National League, one game above Cincinnati and in direct contention with Arizona.
