Clay Holmes was fantastic and the Mets went deep four times in a clean 7-2 victory over the Cubs at Citi Field to open this homestand in a game where solo homers ruled the day.
Francisco Lindor got the fireworks started right away, leading off the bottom of the first with a solo shot on an 0-2 pitch from Jameson Taillon to put the Mets on the board. In the top of the second, Francisco Alvarez continued to impress behind the dish, gunning down Pete Crow-Armstrong trying to steal for the final out of the inning. Brett Baty led off the bottom of the second with a solo homer and Jeff McNeil followed two batters later with his own solo shot to put the Mets up 3-0.
The Mets were gifted two more runs in the next inning via a poor defensive play by the Cubs. With one out, Brandon Nimmo walked and then Francisco Alvarez hit a sharp grounder up the middle that Nico Hoerner almost got to, but it ticked off his glove to allow Alvarez to reach first base safely. A Brett Baty infield hit then loaded the bases. Luisangel Acuña then grounded into what should have been an inning-ending double play, but after the force out was recorded at second, Dansby Swanson airmailed the throw to first base, allowing two runs to score to extend the Mets’ lead to 5-0.
The Cubs got a run back on a solo homer by Kyle Tucker to lead off the fourth inning. It was the first home run Clay Holmes allowed this season. But despite also allowing a one-out double in the inning and throwing a wild pitch, he limited the damage to just the one run. The Mets got the run right back in the bottom of the frame via a monstrous solo shot to right-center off the bat of Juan Soto to make the score 6-1, ending Jameson Taillon’s evening after just four innings. But Holmes gave up just three hits in all over six innings of work, striking out five batters and walking three in his fifth win of the season.
Ryne Stanek pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the Mets, but things got a little dicey in the eighth as Dedniel Núñez’s shaky start to 2025 continued. After he struck out Dansby Swanson to lead off the inning, he issued back-to-back walks to Nicky Lopez and Ian Happ, bringing Kyle Tucker to bat in a dangerous situation. The situation became even more uneasy when Núñez got Tucker to pop up in foul territory, but Francisco Alvarez dropped the ball, giving Tucker another life in the at-bat. But Citi Field collectively exhaled when Tucker struck out on the next pitch. Still, Carlos Mendoza had seen enough and brought in fireman extraordinaire Reed Garrett to finish the inning. Seiya Suzuki gave a ball a ride to center, but it wasn’t quite deep enough and Tyrone Taylor tracked it down to end the inning and neutralize the comeback threat.
The Mets added a run in the eighth thanks to some good old fashioned hustle by Francisco Lindor. With two outs, he legged out an infield hit—his third hit of the night—and promptly stole second base. Juan Soto drove him in with a single over the leaping Dansby Swanson to give the Mets a six-run lead. José Buttó was greeted rudely in the ninth when he was given a pitch clock violation and then Michael Busch took him deep for the Cubs’ second run. But Buttó bounced back to strike out three of the next four batters he faced to secure the win.
With that, Citi Field remains a fortress and the Mets are victorious on the first night Francisco Lindor added another Motown classic to his walk-up song repertoire. The Mets have now won seven straight games Clay Holmes has started. The Amazins will go for the series victory tomorrow night with Tylor Megill on the mound.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Clay Holmes, +16.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Pete Alonso, -2.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: +19.3% WPA
Mets hitters: +30.7%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, +10.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Tucker’s solo homer in the fourth, -4.1% WPA