The Mets lost for the sixth straight game on Thursday night, losing 4-3 in extra innings to get swept by the Chicago Cubs in a four-game series at Citi Field.
Here are the takeaways…
— The Mets and Cubs were locked in a stalemate through five innings as Freddy Peralta and Matthew Boyd held their opponent scoreless for the first half of the game. Of the two pitchers, Peralta, following his worst start of the season and unveiling a new windup, looked the best and allowed just two hits while throwing 68 pitches over five innings.
— On the other side, Boyd, making his first start in nearly two months, managed to get in and out of trouble despite four walks. The left-hander loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning but escaped unscathed following a Mark Vientos popout. He exited after 4.2 innings.
— After five terrific innings, the sixth inning was not kind to Peralta, starting with shortstop Ronny Mauricio’s throwing error to lead things off. Mauricio was activated off the IL on Wednesday and called up earlier in the day after Marcus Semien landed on the IL.
— The Cubs scored the game’s first run two batters later on Michael Conforto’s RBI single to right field. Carson Benge had a chance to throw out the runner at home plate but he got little on the throw and the runner scored easily.
— Once again, two batters later, Chicago scored again on Alex Bregman’s RBI double that eluded Benge, going between his legs after skipping off the right field wall in foul territory. Had Benge gloved the ball cleanly, the runner likely would have been held up at third base. The next batter, Ian Happ, made it a moot point by singling through the hole between the first and second baseman to bring in the third unearned run of the inning.
— Peralta, exhausted after throwing 26 pitches already in the inning, walked Nico Hoerner on four pitches before getting pulled by manager Carlos Mendoza. The right-hander went 5.2 innings, allowed five hits and three runs, walked one and struck out five on 98 pitches (54 strikes). He lowered his season ERA to 4.53.
— Now having to fight from behind, New York got two of those runs right back in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Cubs’ bullpen thanks to pinch-hitter Eric Wagaman‘s two-out, two-run homer. The Mets went on to load the bases following two singles and a hit by pitch to bring up Juan Soto, but Soto grounded out to end the inning.
— Still, New York’s offense went right back to work in the seventh inning and tied things up on Jared Young‘s solo shot. It was Young’s sixth blast of the season in 95 at-bats.
— Meanwhile, the Mets’ bullpen had quite the night, starting with Austin Warren‘s 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Peralta. Luke Weaver, with the game tied 3-3, entered in the eighth inning and struck out the side on 11 pitches to extend his scoreless streak to 22 consecutive innings. He has a 2.12 ERA. Devin Williams also had a scoreless inning in the ninth to give New York a chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the frame.
— In fact, the Mets got the winning run to second base with one out but were unable to drive him in and the game went to extra innings.
— In extras, Brooks Raley struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a double that scored the free runner to former Mets top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong who finished the game 2-for-5. Raley did well to limit the damage and leave the inning with just the one run scored, but New York came up empty in their turn to bat and were swept by the Cubs in a four-game series at home and have lost six straight. Chicago also swept the Mets earlier in the season at Wrigley Field.
Game MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong
The youngster was the only Cubs player with multiple hits and his double in the 10th was the game-winner.
Highlights
A 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts for Freddy Peralta 🔥 pic.twitter.com/flGf9dZR9Q
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 25, 2026
Ronny Mauricio rips a double 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ug92BMHMtb
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
Five scoreless innings for Freddy Peralta! pic.twitter.com/G1LBPHtKuS
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
Eric Wagaman with a pinch-hit two-run homer! pic.twitter.com/RprbFvmzbi
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
Jared Young ties the game with a solo homer! pic.twitter.com/SD6rkSxSIk
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
Luke Weaver strikes out the side on 11 pitches!
He’s thrown 22 straight scoreless innings 💪 pic.twitter.com/u50JXWrLVp
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
A 1-2-3 9th inning for Devin Williams 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7AgAUCvTXi
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026
What’s next
The Mets welcome in the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game weekend series at Citi Field starting on Friday night at 7:10 p.m.
Rookie LHP Zach Thornton (0-1, 8.31 ERA) will make his second career start and will face off against former Met RHP Zack Wheeler (7-1, 2.11 ERA).
