CHICAGO – Instead of marching into the All-Star break with a four-game sweep, the Mets will have four days to forget the way they ended the first half.
The Amazin’s, playing gritty baseball, wanted a better result in the series finale at Wrigley Field that wrapped up an otherwise successful road trip. Their one-run lead was erased in the eighth inning when Drew Smith coughed up three singles across five batters faced. When Buck Showalter trotted out of the dugout to yank Smith from his disappointing outing, it was too late. The damage had been done.
The Mets offense failed to scratch a run against reliever David Robertson in the top of the ninth inning and they fell, 3-2, to the Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field. When the Amazin’s were six outs away from a five-game winning streak, their taxed and shaky relief corps couldn’t hang on. They took three out of four from the Cubs and still managed to win their 21st series of the year.
