The Mets with John Maine on the mound, stayed with the Cubs and their ace Carlos Zambrano most of the way tonight but with the bullpen not sharp and some sloppy play, the Mets wound up losing by a final of 7-1. After taking two out of three against Philly then arriving in Chicago at 3:00 am and having to face the first place Cubs at home with their ace on the mound tonight’s loss was somewhat predictable.
Zambrano pitched 7 innings only yielding only one run. The Mets managed to get just five hits off the Cubs ace. No one in the Mets line-up had more that one hit and they hit into four double plays which seems to happen in every game so far this young season.
John Maine pitched 6 strong innings giving up just two earned runs, walking two and striking out six.
Duaner Sanchez looked sharp pitching a perfect 7th but the slumping Aaron Heilman could not make it out of the 8th inning after Jose Reyes started the inning botching a ground ball, Heilman hit the next batter and it was all downhill from there. Heilman was able to get two outs with the bases loaded but gave up a single to the gap in left center after getting within a strike of escaping the inning. Four unearned runs were charged to Heilman. Then Jorge Sosa came in with two runners on and gave up a three run homer to Felix Pie making the score 7-1 Cubs.
So, for me it’s just a game the Mets should put behind them. They got in late and lost to a good team with their ace on the mound. No, shame in that. Hopefully they all went back to their hotel rooms straight away to rest up for the day game tomorrow.
Nelson Figueroa is scheduled to start for the Mets tomorrow versus Ted Lilly for the Cubs. Game time is 2:00 pm.
