Chicago Cubs, Hammel get hammered by Mets, 10-2

There came a time when for the sake of the Chicago Cubs you hoped the sky would open up and the last rain would be enough to postpone the game. That wasn’t the case as the Mets downed the Cubs 10-2 on Friday night.

Look, you can’t blame this one on the Chicago Cubs (51-28) bullpen. This one fell squarely on

as he allowed five home runs as the Cubs dropped their second straight to the New York Mets (42-37) on Friday night by a score of 10-2. Now they have to scramble the last two games of this series to pull out a split against last year’s NLCS opponent.

Several rain delays weren’t enough to push the starters out of the game, and that wasn’t a good thing for the Cubs’ Jason Hammel (7-5, 3.45). He allowed runs in every inning from the second through the fifth as he allowed a total of 10 earned runs in four innings of work. A three-run home run to rookie Brandon Nimmo was one of the most crippling blows in a game that saw the Mets lay many of them to Hammel.

The only mistake from Jacob deGrom (4-4, 2.62) was a solo home run that he allowed to Kris Bryant in the fourth inning. He pitched just long enough to qualify for the win in a game that was delayed by rain on three separate occasions.

In a non-divisional game in July, the Cubs will of course say it doesn’t matter, that last year has no bearing on this year. But after blowing last night’s game, then having one of their more consistent starters get lit up for 10 runs—it matters.

Next: Cubs infield one of the best

The Cubs will turn to their ace Jake Arrieta in tomorrow’s match-up that will hopefully see him return to his Cy Young like form. He faces the ageless wonder in Bartolo Colon who will be looking for his seventh win of the season.