Jake Arrieta, Kris Bryant lead Chicago Cubs past Mets 6-1

Bryant homers, triples in win over Mets

Jake Arrieta tosssed eight innings of one-run ball, Kris Bryant homered and tripled and the Chicago Cubs spoiled the big league debut of New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard as the home team rolled to a 6-1 win on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Arrieta bounced back from his last two starts, which weren’t exactly what fans were accustomed to seeing from the right-hander, striking out 10 and walking two, while allowing a mere three hits on the night. He got plenty of offensive support late after battling Syndergaard blow-for-blow early-on, due largely in-part to the work of Bryant.

The Chicago third baseman ended the night 3-for-4 with an RBI, while the three-hole hitter Anthony Rizzo drew three walks, adding to his already-impressive on-base percentage. Outfielder Chris Coghlan also drove in a pair of runs with a sixth-inning homer against the Mets starter.

Syndergaard (0-1) was impressive, especially in the early innings, and his final line was still solid – especially for a guy who was making his big league debut. He turned in 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball, allowing six hits and walking four while striking out half-a-dozen batters.

Chicago opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when Starlin Castro doubled to score Jorge Soler with nobody out in the frame. Coghlan followed that up with his two-run blast into the seats in right-center field, extending the Cubs lead to 3-0. Later in the inning, Miguel Montero singled, scoring Dexter Fowler and extending the edge to 4-0.

Addison Russell doubled to right, scoring Castro and pushing the Chicago lead to 5-0. New York added a run in the top of the eighth on a Kevin Plawecki sacrifice fly, but the team got the run back on Bryant’s solo blast in the bottom of the inning – his second home run in as many days and third on the season.

As a team, Chicago struck out nine times, but drew seven walks in the win. Despite a 3-for-14 mark with runners in scoring position, the club did enough offensively to get the win – making it two straight over the National League East-leading New York Mets.

What’s Next:

Chicago (17-15) will continue the four-game set against New York (20-13) on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Jason Hammel (3-1, 3.52 ERA) will battle Mets ace Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.72 ERA) in the third game of the series at Wrigley Field.

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