*Photo from the Taiwan News*
Sometimes, it's the platoon players and unlikely heroes that win the day. Rafael Ortega homered and drove in two runs, Zach McKinstry had an identical output, and the Chicago Cubs defeated the New York Mets with a 5-2 victory on Monday night in Queens.
Opening the series in hostile territory, the Cubs took advantage of their chances while the Mets couldn't, leading to a win in the series opener. The win marks just the 3rd in the Cubs last 10 games, but it was an encouraging win for the Northsiders of Chicago.
Cubs manager David Ross said of the game that "It was a good offensive performance there, good approach off Bassitt there early on. It gave us enough. And then Javy locked it in. Really nice job. The Mets left a lot of guys on base. We pitched really well with traffic."
Starting the scoring in the second inning was Ortega, who skied a solo home run to right field to put the Cubs ahead by a 1-0 score. In the 3rd inning, McKinstry hit a two run home run to right as well, tripling the Cubs lead to a 3-0 margin. An RBI single from Ortega in the top of the 4th inning made it a 4-0 lead for the Cubs.
Later in the top of the 4th, the lead became 5-0 for the Cubs when Ortega scored on a single from Alfonso Rivas. In the bottom of the 4th, James McCann got the Mets on the board, hitting an RBI single to score Mark Canha and make it a 5-1 game. In the 9th, Francisco Lindor homered to make it 5-2, but the Mets couldn't score again.
Getting the start for the Cubs was Javier Assad. He got his first MLB win, allowing one run on 5 hits over 6 innings pitched. Mark Leiter Jr was first out of the bullpen and worked one inning, with Manuel Rodriguez getting one out in the 8th before Brandon Hughes got the final 5 outs for his 5th save of the season.
Cubs catcher PJ Higgins weighed in on Assad's start, saying that "To be honest, his sinker was not where we wanted it to be, but his cutter was making up for it, for sure. Being able to move into the lefties. We kind of used it whenever we needed it."
Starting opposite Assad was Chris Bassitt, who allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and two walks while only going 3 2/3 innings. Tommy Hunter pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, followed by appearances from Trevor May, Mychal Givens, and Joely Rodriguez.
Up next, the Cubs and Mets continue their series on Tuesday night. Adrian Sampson will get the start as the Cubs go for two wins in a row, while Jacob deGrom gets the start for the Mets.
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