CHICAGO — What should have been a feel-good performance and a good run into the Subway Series for the Mets turned into a demoralizing win Sunday night.
Edwin Diaz was ejected after entering the bottom of the ninth inning after umpires inspected his right hand and glove and determined he had violated MLB’s rules regarding sticky substances.
Drew Smith and Jake Diekman were called in to get the final three outs of the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but Diaz faces an automatic 10-game suspension for his sticky substance ejection.
Max Scherzer received a similar suspension last April for violating rules during a game at Dodger Stadium, and Smith was also ejected for a violation later in the season.
The Mets will have to play one less player during the suspension.
This comes after the Mets have won four straight games and are slated to face the Yankees in two games at Citi Field.
Before his troubles in the ninth, Luis Severino pitched six scoreless innings — a big improvement from his six-run outing Tuesday at Texas. The Mets got homers from Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos on the night to improve to 13-6 in June.
Severino was originally scheduled to start Tuesday against his former team, the Yankees, but last weekend manager Carlos Mendoza adjusted the rotation, inserting David Peterson in the Subway Series opener. Severino started against the Cubs instead. Mendoza said the reason was that he wanted a right-handed pitcher for the Cubs game and a left-handed pitcher for the Yankees game.
But Severino admitted to The Washington Post that he was “a little” disappointed not to be able to face the Yankees this week and said he would try to be available to pitch in Game 2 of the Subway Series after the All-Star break in the Bronx.
Severino lasted until the sixth inning against the Cubs, but gave up a single to leadoff hitter Miguel Amaya and hit Nico Hoerner. After Michael Bush struck out, Severino fought Cody Bellinger to a spectacular victory, striking out Bellinger on the 12th pitch. Mendoza came to the mound and held Severino to the plate, but with the count down 2-0, he hit a fly ball to center field to retire the Cubs DH.
Severino struck out 10 batters in total (his first double-digit strikeout total this season) and threw 102 pitches, allowing three hits but no walks.
Severino continued to pitch dominantly against the Cubs this season. On April 29 at Citi Field, he was hitless through the eighth inning, but Dansby Swanson singled and Severino was held to one run in a 3-1 loss to the Mets.
That night, Lindor and Nimmo hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning against Javier Asad to put the Mets up 3-0. After a Harrison Bader double, Lindor worked the count and hit a fly ball high into the left field stands. Nimmo then followed with a home run in the same area. It was the third time this season that the Mets have hit back-to-back home runs. Nimmo’s homer was his fourth in the last six games, giving him 11 this season. Lindor’s homer was his 13th, putting him three behind Pete Alonso for the team lead.
Bader’s double in the fifth inning was nearly identical to the grounder he’d hit down the third base line in his previous at-bat, and it extended the Mets’ lead to 4-0 going into the fifth inning. After Lindor was hit by a pitch and stole second, Nimmo was walked and J.D. Martinez grounded out to score a run.
Assad, who pitched with a 2.75 ERA, pitched just 4 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and one walk. The right-hander also allowed just one run in five innings against the Mets on April 30 at Citi Field.
The Cubs got their attacking start in the seventh inning off Dedniel Nunez, when after leadoff hitter Ian Happ singled, Christopher Morrell smashed a 420-foot home run to center field to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2.
Vientos fought back in the eighth inning with a 451-foot home run to center field to extend the Mets’ lead to 5–2.
