That left it up to Contreras and Baez.
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The Mets remained in second place in the National League wild-card standings with a 14-3 rout of the Chicago Cubs that capped a four-game sweep of the team with baseball’s best record.
The Mets hit five home runs in a home game for the fifth time, the first since June 26, 2000, against the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium. The RBI was Nimmo’s first in the majors. “Is this really happening?'” the always-smiling Nimmo said before the game.
Cespedes is now hitting.288 on the season with 19 home runs and 46 runs batted in.
Cubs starter Jason Hammel (whose ERA shot from 2.58 to 3.45) reacts after giving up Brandon Nimmo’s first career homer, a three-run shot with two out in the fourth inning Friday night. Coghlan was replaced by Javier Baez.
The 10 runs allowed were a career-high for Hammel, who gave up nine hits and two walks while striking out three over four innings.
The Cubs responded to that playoff disappointment by spending nearly $290 million on free agents, swooping in to sign Zobrist (who handled New York’s power pitching and helped the Kansas City Royals win the World Series), stealing Jason Heyward away from the Cardinals and bringing back Fowler in spring training, reinforcing their lineup with veterans who had career on-base percentages between.353 and.363.
DeGrom opened the game with two hitless innings and was trotting out to the mound for the top of the third with a 2-0 lead – courtesy of back-to-back homers by James Loney and Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the second – when umpires waved the players off the field at 7:52 PM, moments before heavy rains arrived. It also appears Cesepedes’ home run is the first in a regular season game to land in the stadium’s third deck.
It wasn’t unfamiliar territory to Cespedes, however. It’s unclear if that was indeed the longest home run ever hit at Ebbets, but it certainly seems to be the longest one that people still talk about today.
Walker hit a two-run homer in the first and Travis d’Arnaud blooped a two-run single in the fourth, after Anthony Rizzo tied the score with a two-run homer in the top half.
With the infield drawn in, right-hander Pedro Strop got Neil Walker to hit a chopper to second. The ball was picked up by a security guard who gave it to Mets bullpen pitching coach Ricky Bones to hold for Nimmo, the 13th overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft. But the wide throw ticked off Bryant’s glove and rolled into foul territory, letting Nimmo cross the plate with a big smile on his face.
Chicago Cubs (51-27) vs.
Before the game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon recalled writing Pancho on the lineup card when he was with the Angels instead of Colon’s name, a reference to Colon’s pet donkey when he was young in the Dominican Republic.
Colon allowed just the two runs before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth. Heyward is expected to play Friday night.
Facing the NL Cy Young Award victor in Jake Arrieta, the crafty 43-year-old with the sumo wrestler body and carefree attitude wasn’t going to get amped up.
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Mets: Granderson was out of the lineup again after an MRI revealed a mild strain of his right calf, general manager Sandy Alderson said.
