Cubs Sink Senga Early and Often

Cubs 9, Mets 6 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets Record: 34-44

Mets Streak: L3

Mets Last 10: 4-6

WP: Edward Cabrera (5-4)

LP: Kodai Senga (0-6)

Seat On The Korner: Dansby Swanson

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

He may have been at the bottom of the Chicago lineup but Dansby Swanson was at the top of the list of Cubs deserving of the Seat on the Korner. He started out small with a second inning sacrifice fly to put Chicago up 2-0. A couple innings after the Mets showed some life and made the score 5-2, Swanson essentially put the game away with a 2-run home run to left.

As if that wasn't enough, Swanson added a run-scoring double in the top of the 8th.

In all, Swanson went 2-3 with a run scored, a double, a sacrifice fly, a home run, and 4 RBIs. And, of course, a Seat on the Korner.

Need To Know:

• This was Kodai Senga's fourth career start against the Cubs. He is now 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA (18 earned runs in 18 innings) against them.

• Senga's overall season ERA is now 10.08.

• The Mets are now one game below .500 (18-19) at Citi Field this season.

• In the last 20 games, Mets starting pitchers have averaged 4.05 innings per start, with a 6.22 ERA, and a 1.47 WHIP. Opponents have a .812 OPS against Mets starters in that span.

• Bo Bichette missed an opportunity to get the game closer when he struck out with the bases loaded to end the second inning. He did, however, get on base 3 times tonight, with a walk, a single, and a 9th-inning 2-run home run.

• Cubs starting pitcher Edward Cabrera powered through a 5 inning, 2 run, 3 hit, 4 walk performance but was carted off the field after injuring his hamstring on an inning-ending ground out.

• Francisco Lindor played a 8 innings at shortstop in his third rehab game with AAA Syracuse, going 2-for-5, with hits from each side of the plate. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza indicated that Lindor could return on Wednesday or possibly Thursday.

• Tyrone Taylor continued his rehab assignment with AAA Syracuse, going 3-5 with a double and a 2-run home run.

• The Mets have lost all 4 games they've played against the Cubs so far this season. They will try to change their luck with a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday.

Turning Point:

While we can't simply declare that the Mets haven't been hitting recently anymore, it is safe to say that the Mets offense has been inconsistent. So an early 2-0 deficit may not be automatically insurmountable. And when the Mets went down by that score in the second inning following a Dansby Swanson sacrifice fly, the game certainly didn't seem out of reach. Then came Pete Crow-Armstrong...

PCA's 3-run home run (his 10th home run this month) put the Cubs up 5-0, and while the Mets would score 2 in the bottom of the inning and eventually score 6 runs for the game, the Cubs cruised from this point on.

Three Keys:

Francisco Came to Play

Dansby Swanson wasn't the only guy at the bottom of the lineup to have a good game tonight. The Mets 9th-spot batter, Francisco Alvarez, had one of his best games of the season. With the Mets down 5-0, they were able to load the bases and bring Alvarez to the plate with two outs. The Mets catcher did not disappoint.

In the bottom of the 7th, after the Cubs had extended their lead to 7-2, Alvarez struck again, this time driving himself in with his 6th home run of the season.

Soto-No

Mets outfielder Juan Soto left the game in the 5th inning tonight and is listed as day-to-day with left side back tightness. Manager Carlos Mendoza said the team will see how he's feeling tomorrow before determining his availability. As you may remember, Soto already missed some time early this season with a multi-week stint on the IL, and on the day he came back, Francisco Lindor suffered a multi-month injury. Now that Lindor is about to return, the Mets are desperately hoping not to lose Soto for an extended period of time. Lindor and Soto have played together in just 9 of the Mets first 78 games in 2026.

Challenge Accepted

While the Mets recent issues with winning manger's and ABS challenges have been an additional pain point for this season, things took an interesting turn tonight. Not only did they win 4 of 5 ABS challenges on the night, they also came out ahead on a rather unique manager's challenge. In the top of the 7th inning, after reaching first on a walk, Pete Crow-Armstrong attempted a steal of second on a 3-2 count to Michael Busch. Even though he was tagged before reaching second, PCA was safe because Busch walked. So far, everything makes sense. However, Crow-Armstrong slide past the base and was tagged by shortstop Bo Bichette. Initially, the umpire declared PCA safe at second. However, the ball isn't dead at ball 4. Had the ball gotten past Bichette, Crow-Armstrong could have gone to third. So the fact that he slid past the base and was seemingly tagged, was enough to bring Carlos Mendoza out to challenge the call. And, after further review, PCA was ruled out. Needless to say, he was upset and confused, sentiments shared by Cubs manager Craig Counsell who was soon tossed from the game.