The New York Mets are mired in their worst offensive slump in almost a decade — just in time to meet the Chicago Cubs, who are in the midst of a much-needed lineup revival.
The Mets will look to snap a lengthy skid Friday afternoon when they visit the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series between the longtime National League rivals.
Kodai Senga (0-2, 7.07 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Edward Cabrera (1-0, 1.62 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.
Both teams were off Thursday after completing road series Wednesday. The Mets continued sinking with an 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers while the Cubs remained hot with an 11-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The loss was the eighth straight for the Mets, who have been blanked three times while being outscored 44-12 during a tailspin that began April 8, five days after Juan Soto sustained a strained right calf against the San Francisco Giants. Soto has begun his running progression at Citi Field and could return during a nine-game homestand for New York slated to begin next Tuesday.
Twelve runs are the fewest for the Mets in an eight-game span since they also had 12 runs while going 1-7 from June 5-14, 2018. New York, which is batting .175 during the losing streak, has scored in just 10 of the last 72 innings and has ended a frame with a lead just seven times since its most recent win, a 10-inning 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 7.
Offseason acquisitions Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco are batting a combined .212. Two of the Mets’ five hits Wednesday were recorded by MJ Melendez, who was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day.
“It’s tough right now … everybody’s upset,” Bichette said. “I don’t really have much to say, other than I can’t explain it and we’ll keep on working and figure it out.”
The Cubs appeared to finish figuring out their offensive issues against the Phillies, whom they outscored 28-19 over the three-game series, including 21-6 over the final two games they won.
Chicago has scored 35 runs in its last four games dating to a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The Cubs opened the season with 59 runs in their first 14 games, including 35 runs in the nine games prior to Sunday’s outburst.
The Cubs also have at least 10 hits in each of the last four games after reaching double figures just three times in the first 14 games. Three players — Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw — had three hits apiece Wednesday.
Shaw recorded three doubles and is just the fifth player in team history to collect three extra-base hits while batting ninth.
“When your nine hitter hits three doubles, that’s a good sign,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We just did a nice job on offense again (Wednesday).”
Senga took the loss in his most recent start last Saturday, giving up a career-high seven runs over 2 1/3 innings as the Mets fell to the Athletics, 11-6. Cabrera didn’t factor into the decision last Saturday after allowing three runs on eight hits over five innings in the Cubs’ extra-innings loss to the Pirates.
Senga is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two career starts against the Cubs. Cabrera is 2-2 with a 5.09 ERA in 10 starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
