Cubs Sweep Mets With 7-4 Win
CHICAGO (AP) -- Anthony Rizzo hit a tie-breaking homer, Travis Wood went deep and drove in three runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 7-4 Thursday night to complete the three-game sweep.
Rizzo's solo drive off Vic Black (1-1) with one out in the seventh gave the Chicago a lead after they wasted a four-run lead. Andrew Brown's two-run shot tied it 4-all in the top half.
Junior Lake added a two-run triple in the eighth, and the Cubs came away with their first series sweep since they took three at San Francisco last July 26-28.
Wood delivered in a big way at the plate and was in line for the win before New York rallied from a 4-0 deficit.
He hit a two-run homer in the second off Jacob deGrom after Luis Valbuena was ruled safe at home on a sacrifice fly following a replay review to give Chicago a 3-0 lead. And Wood drove in another run with a fielder's choice grounder in the fourth.
The Mets scored two while chasing Wood in the sixth and tied it in the seventh when Brown, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier in the day, connected off Justin Grimm.
Rizzo, however, put the Cubs back on top with a long drive to right-center on a 3-1 pitch for his team-leading 11th homer.
Grimm (2-2) got the win. Pedro Strop stranded two runners in the eighth before Lake made it a three-run game in the bottom half.
Neil Ramirez then converted his first save opportunity, retiring the side ninth, and the Cubs swept three from New York at Wrigley Field for the first time since April 2004.
It helped that the Mets went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.
They wasted several opportunities against Wood, who gave up two runs and five hits in five-plus innings. He tied a season high with five walks but kept pitching out of trouble until the Mets knocked him out in the sixth.
He left with a run in after giving up a leadoff walk to Brown and back-to-back singles by Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada. Young added an RBI single off Brian Schlitter with two out, cutting it to 4-2, before Curtis Granderson popped out to end the rally.
DeGrom gave up four runs and five hits over five innings and remained winless in five starts for New York.
NOTES: The Cubs observed a moment of silence before the game for Don Zimmer, who managed the 1989 team to the NL East crown. Zimmer spent 66 years in pro baseball and was still working as a senior adviser for the Tampa Bay Rays before he died Wednesday at 83. He had been in a Florida rehab center since heart surgery in mid-April. "I lived in St. Petersburg for 12 years, so I saw Don a lot," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "It's a sad day for baseball. One of the truly iconic baseball personalities in the game. I grew up a Dodgers fan and this guy was one of the great Dodgers. If it wasn't for Pee Wee (Reese) he would have had a tremendous career." ... Chicago took Indiana C-OF Kyle Schwarber with the fourth pick in the draft. ... Collins is mulling skipping Daisuke Matsuzaka's next start after he lasted 4 1-3 innings Wednesday. But he also has to weigh how that would impact the rest of the rotation. "It's not just Daisuke, it comes down to the other guys. Do they need a break, do they need another day?" Collins said.
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