The Chicago Cubs secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Mets in 10 innings on Sunday, finishing off a three-game sweep at home while pushing the Mets’ devastating losing streak to 11 games.
Nico Hoerner delivered the decisive blow with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning that brought home the winning run for Chicago, which has now captured five consecutive games and six of their last seven contests.
The Cubs managed to force extra innings thanks to Michael Conforto, who ironically spent his first seven major league seasons with New York before joining Chicago. Conforto came through as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, connecting for an RBI double against Mets closer Devin Williams to tie the game.
New York’s lone run came courtesy of MJ Melendez, who launched a home run in the fifth inning. However, that wasn’t enough to prevent the Mets from matching their longest losing streak since dropping 11 straight games from August 28 through September 8, 2004. The franchise hasn’t endured 12 consecutive losses since August 10-23, 2002.
In the crucial 10th inning, Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar (2-2) managed to strand two Mets runners before Chicago’s automatic runner Pete Crow-Armstrong advanced to third base on a wild pitch from Craig Kimbrel (0-1). After Kimbrel struck out Dansby Swanson, Hoerner stepped up and delivered a fly ball to medium right field that easily brought Armstrong home with the winning run.
In other Sunday action around Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees dominated the Kansas City Royals 7-0, extending their remarkable regular-season winning streak against Kansas City to 10 games. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice both homered off Cole Ragans in the opening two frames, while Trent Grisham added a three-run blast in the fifth.
The Detroit Tigers defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-2 behind Dillon Dingler’s outstanding 4-for-5 performance that included four RBIs and came just a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves completed their own three-game sweep with a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, outscoring Philadelphia 16-3 across the entire series.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3, with Mitch Keller throwing seven strong innings and the team recording three bunt singles in a single game for the first time since 1998. The Washington Nationals avoided a series sweep by shutting out the San Francisco Giants 3-0, while the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 behind Jose Ramirez’s franchise-record 28th multi-homer game.
Other notable results included the Miami Marlins snapping a four-game skid with a 5-3 win over Milwaukee, Cincinnati completing a sweep of Minnesota with a 7-4 victory in 10 innings, and Colorado handing the Los Angeles Dodgers their first back-to-back losses of the season with a 9-6 triumph.
