CHICAGO — The Mets are often down, but they never seem to be out of the race.
Hours after the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to move to within a 1/2 game of the Mets in the NL Wild Card standings, the Amazins’ countered with a 8-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. Despite the Cubs outfield making several highlight-reel catches against the Mets, and their hottest hitter, Francisco Alvarez, on the bench after dealing with lower-body cramps in the second game of the series, they kept their season alive Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
The lead over the Reds is back to one game, and their lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks is up to two as the Mets head to Miami for the final series of the 2025 regular season.
“You want to stay alive,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor. “We’re in a position right now where we control our own destiny, and we’ve got to go take care of business.”
Lindor went 1-for-4 with a home run, Brett Baty went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, Brandon Nimmo went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, and Tyrone Taylor came through with a clutch two-run double in the top of the sixth. It gave the Mets (82-77) two crucial insurance runs and knocked left-hander Shota Imanaga out of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Seiya Suzuki took Nolan McLean deep for a three-run shot to end his night, and bring the Cubs (89-70) back to within three runs of tying, 8-5. It was Suzuki’s second home run of the night off McLean.
Before Suzuki managed to get ahold of an 0-1 sweeper, McLean had been cruising. He struck out a career-high 11 of the 23 batters he faced, striking out the side in the second inning.
To say the Mets needed a steady start from their rookie right-hander would be an understatement. They overcame one pitching blowup in the series from David Peterson, but couldn’t overcome another from Jonah Tong Wednesday night.
Every outing, he shows the ability to make the right adjustments and throw the right pitches. This time, it was his cutter that helped him carve up the Chicago lineup.
“I’m just trying to keep the game plan as different as possible, as many times as I can,” McLean said. “It did feel good tonight, so I was trying to lean on it and just kind of use it to protect the sweeper and curveball a little bit. Just something different.
In just his eighth major league start, McLean was charged with five earned runs on five hits, and walked two in 5 1/3 innings.
He pitched 48 innings since being called up in August, two shy of the limit that would have eliminated his rookie status for 2026. Should he win the NL Rookie of the Year Award next season, or finish in the top-3 for the NL Cy Young Award or MVP before arbitration, the Mets will be awarded an extra draft pick.
“You feel good about your chances every time he takes the baseball,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Today was the perfect scenario. There were a couple of guys on, he’s up 91-92 pitches, and you still feel really good about him getting out of that situation.”
Ryne Stanek came in to get the next two outs. Brooks Raley and Tyler Rogers held the lead with scoreless innings, and Edwin Diaz converted his 28th save.
“We’re going to continue to continue to rely on those guys,” Mendoza said. “They know where we’re at, and they’re going to continue to ask for the baseball.”
Imanaga (9-8) allowed nine hits and eight runs, walking two and striking out three.
The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the first in part due to a rules violation. Swanson went through the netting and into the stands to catch a foul pop-up from Mark Vientos with Lindor on third and Pete Alonso on second. Leaving the field of play advances the baserunners, which third base coach Mike Sarbaugh was aware of. He immediately sent Lindor home and called for Alonso to go to third.
Nimmo’s two-out single then scored Alonso.
Lindor made it 3-0 in the third with his 30th home run of the season, marking the second time in three years the shortstop has hit 30 homers and stolen 30 or more bases. Lindor and Juan Soto became the first Mets teammates to reach the 30-30 mark in the same season.
Baty hit the most important home run of the day, a three-run bomb to left field in the fourth that gave the Mets a 6-0 lead. It was his 18th of the season, but only his third against a lefty. The third baseman also made a fantastic barehanded play to end the third inning, charging in on a chopper from Nico Hoerner and making a strong throw across the diamond to Alonso at first base.
“I thought that was huge,” Baty said. “I looked back at it, and I probably should have gloved it because I did have a little bit more time than I thought, but it was also Hoerner running, so I didn’t know how fast he got out of the box. But yeah, that was a cool play.”
He seems to have solidified the third base spot for the weekend, and into the postseason, should the Mets extend their season further.