NEW YORK _ The symptoms of a struggling team compounding their problems seemed apparent when Javier Baez was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the second inning, and Yu Darvish's home run problems surfaced when rookie Pete Alonso snapped a scoreless tie with a tiebreaking shot in the fourth.
But the Cubs, faced with little margin for error in their quest for a National League Central title, displayed their mettle in a methodical manner Tuesday night as they beat the Mets, 5-2, and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Baez led the way with a 3-for-3 performance that included a two-run home run in the sixth _ his first since Aug. 5 against the Athletics. Nicholas Castellanos and Baez had RBI doubles in the eighth to expand the Cubs' lead to four.
Baez also robbed Wilson Ramos of a hit when he leaped from his shortstop position to catch his line drive after Michael Conforto hit a triple over Castellanos' head in right field to open the second.
Darvish escaped danger by inducing J.D. Davis to hit a fly to shallow center field, and Castellanos sprinted to the alley in right-center to rob Joe Panik of a hit.
Darvish (5-6) had his streak of not issuing a walk stopped at 142 consecutive batters when he issued a leadoff pass to Todd Frazier to start the fifth with a 2-1 lead. But unlike his start Wednesday against the Giants when he blew a 6-2 lead and allowed four home runs, Darvish retired the next three batters and pitched a season-best eight innings.
Darvish scattered five hits while walking one and striking out seven. This marked the first time in six starts that he failed to strike out at least eight and not allowing a walk.
Nevertheless, Darvish has struck out 72 and walked three in nine starts since the All-Star break, and his 26.0 strikeout/walk ratio (78/3) since the start of July is tops in baseball.
The Cubs, who don't play the NL Central-leading Cardinals until the final two weeks of the regular season, overcame an early deficit as Addison Russell ripped a two-run home run in the fifth to give the Cubs the lead for good at 2-1. Russell finished with three hits.
Alonso's homer was his 42nd, setting a Mets single-season franchise record. It also marked the first time a rookie set a single-season franchise record since Johnny Rizzo hit 23 for the Pirates in 1938, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
