MLB results: Mets 5, Cubs 2 – Severino shines in big series win

Luis Severino had one of his best performances as a Met, winning 5-2 in Chicago to give the Mets the series – and the season series – over the Cubs. It was a crucial win for the Mets, who now have the tiebreaker over the Cubs if the two teams end up tied in the NL Wild Card race when all the dust settles.

But let’s get ahead of ourselves. On that perfect late June evening at Wrigley, Severino was on a roll, recording ten strikeouts for the first time this season. He also didn’t allow a single walk in six dominant innings; he hasn’t accomplished the feat of double-digit strikeouts and no walks in a game since 2018. Severino held the Cubs scoreless for six innings, helped by a good defense behind him, particularly from Francisco Lindor. His tenth and final strikeout came in a 12-pitch duel against Cody Bellinger, in which Severino emerged victorious, pounding his chest and screaming triumphantly on the mound en route to his fifth win of the season.

Meanwhile, the Mets hitters stayed in power mode, giving Severino some run support. In the third inning, Harrison Bader hit a one-out double down the left field line and Francisco Lindor followed with a two-run bomb – his 13th home run of the season – to put the Mets on the scoreboard. Brandon Nimmo followed up with solo hit after solo hit, dropping a three-runer in the inning off Javier Assad. The Mets had the bases loaded against Assad in the fifth inning, thanks to another one-out double by Bader, a hit by pitch and a walk. That got Assad out of the game and replaced him with Keegan Thompson, who did a good job of limiting the damage, but the Mets scored another run on a slow dribbler by JD Martinez to extend their lead to 4-0.

Dedniel Núñez came in to replace Severino in the seventh inning and allowed a leadoff single by Ian Happ and then a two-run homer by Christopher Morel that cut the Mets’ lead in half. But the Mets got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to a no-doubter by Mark Vientos against Tyson Miller. Reed Garrett worked around a one-out double by Michael Busch to contribute a scoreless eighth inning.

Edwin Díaz then came out of the bullpen to throw the ninth pitch and continue to gain momentum with his eighth save of the season. Instead, however, he was checked for sticky stuff, and crew chief Vic Carapazza didn’t like what he saw and threw Díaz out of the game. Carlos Mendoza had to turn to Drew Smith instead to end the game. Smith put the first two batters out with a flyout and a strikeout, but then allowed a two-out single through the middle by Dansby Swanson. Mendoza then called on Jake Diekman to face left-hander Pete Crow-Armstrong. Craig Counsell countered by putting Patrick Wisdom in for Crow-Armstrong as a pinch hitter, and Wisdom struck out looking to end the game. It’s a big win for the Mets, but they will now be without their closer for ten games.

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What is WPA?

Big Mets winner: Luis Severino, +27.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jeff McNeil, -6.8% WPA
Mets pitcher: +30.4% WPA
Mets bats: +19.6% WPA
This is the best game: Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer in the third, +17.6% WPA
The sux0rest game: Christopher Morel’s two-run homer in the seventh, -11.5% WPA