CHICAGO — Good things can happen when the baseball is put in play, especially with the way the New York Mets played defense Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.
The Chicago Cubs walloped the Mets, 16-4, behind a seven-run fourth inning in which they sent 10 batters to the plate — and with the help of four errors by the Mets. The 16 runs were the Cubs’ most since Sept. 15, 2019, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and they secured their first series win since the season-opening series against the Pirates.
Six consecutive Cubs reached with one out in the fourth against Mets starter David Peterson. Of the seven runs that scored in the inning, only three were earned.
With one run already in on an Anthony Rizzo single, an error by Mets third baseman J.D. Davis loaded the bases. Matt Duffy followed with a walk and David Bote drove in two runs on a single. Mets right fielder Michael Conforto airmailed the throw home on Bote’s hit, allowing Duffy and Bote to advance into scoring position. Two-out run-scoring singles from pinch hitter Eric Sogard and Ian Happ capped the crooked inning for the Cubs.
Javier Báez’s grand slam in the sixth, the sixth slam of his career, put an exclamation point on the offense’s performance.
Right-hander Zach Davies didn’t have his best command in the chilly conditions. He allowed two runs on five hits in four innings.
