CHICAGO — After spending 54 hours removed from the driver’s seat, the Mets plunked themselves back into it Tuesday night. 

Methodically, they overcame a brutal David Peterson start and ugly defensive play, finally going ahead after the Reds had already lost their game against the Pirates. 

And then, after the Cubs tied it, Francisco Alvarez delivered maybe his biggest career hit: a two-run homer in the eighth that put the Mets ahead for good in a 9-7 victory at Wrigley Field. 

So, the National League’s third wild card is again the Mets’ to lose. The Mets moved one game ahead of the Reds (who lost 4-2). The Reds own the tiebreaker against the Mets based on winning the season series. 

“We’re excited we’re back in the lead,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “There are a lot of things we can’t control, but we can come out here and try to control the outcome, the way we play, the effort we put in and hopefully the outcome will be that we win these games.” 

Francisco Alvarez gestures to the Mets’ dugout after hitting the game-winning two-run homer in the eighth inning of their 9-7 win over the Cubs on Sept. 23, 2025. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Francisco Alvarez celebrates after hitting the go-ahead two-run home run in the Mets’ comeback win over the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Alvarez cleared the ivy in left-center with two outs in the eighth, two days after he was robbed of a potential game-tying homer in the ninth inning by the Nationals’ Jacob Young. On this night, he yelled toward the Mets dugout as he ran to first base. 

Alvarez’s message? 

“I just said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” he said. 

The Mets also received a big homer from Brandon Nimmo, whose three-run blast in the fifth completed the team’s comeback from a 6-1 deficit. 

Taking no chances, manager Carlos Mendoza deployed Edwin Díaz for a six-out save. Díaz finished the job, striking out five in two perfect innings. 

Brandon Nimmo is greeted by Pete Alonso after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the Mets’ comeback win over the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I was really fired up,” Díaz said. “After you see that homer from Alvy, it was big. I came out, shut them down and then came out for the ninth. I got the last three outs quick, and it was pretty fun.” 

Peterson, in just his latest awful performance, allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks over 1 ¹/₃ innings. The lefty’s free fall over the past two months includes four starts in his past eight in which he’s allowed at least six earned runs. 

As it stands, Peterson is aligned to start the regular-season finale Sunday in Miami, if he’s not utilized before that in the bullpen. 

“We need this guy,” Mendoza said. “I know it’s been a struggle. It wasn’t a good one today, but our job is to continue to support him and he’s going to play a big role here in the next few days, so we’re counting on him to flush this one and then be ready for whenever we’re giving him the ball again.” 

Francisco Lindor swatted the game’s second pitch into the bleachers in left-center for his 10th leadoff homer this season. 

But the Cubs jumped on Peterson and took advantage of a defensive lapse in the bottom of the inning. Carlos Santana stroked a two-run double — a ball that Juan Soto misjudged in right field that should have been the final out — putting the Mets in a 2-1 hole. 

Francisco Lindor looks up to the sky as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run in the first inning of the Mets’ comeback over the Cubs. David Banks-Imagn Images

Peterson got knocked out in the third on Ian Happ’s two-run double that extended the Cubs lead to 5-1. Nico Hoerner delivered an RBI single for the inning’s first run after Justin Turner walked leading off, Matt Shaw singled and Pete Crow-Armstrong sacrifice bunted the runners to second and third. 

“There were a couple of pitches I didn’t get to the locations I wanted to, and they took advantage,” Peterson said. “Other than that they didn’t chase some good pitches that I thought I threw outside the zone and you can’t control that.” 

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Jeff McNeil committed consecutive throwing errors in the fourth to help widen the Mets deficit to 6-1. McNeil threw away the relay from Mark Vientos on Hoerner’s grounder as he attempted to complete a double play. The next batter, Happ, hit a grounder that McNeil fielded in the hole and fired past Pete Alonso for an error, allowing Hoerner to score. 

Nimmo resurrected the Mets with a three-run homer in the fifth that tied it 6-6 after his team had already scored twice in the inning. Nimmo greeted lefty reliever Taylor Rogers with a shot that cleared the right field wall for his 25th homer this season. 

New York Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz (39) reacts to his team’s win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Chicago. AP

Lindor’s RBI single in the sixth gave the Mets a 7-6 lead after McNeil stroked a two-out double and Alvarez walked. 

Gregory Soto allowed a two-out single to Hoerner in the sixth before Tyler Rogers entered and walked Happ. Seiya Suzuki’s ensuing RBI single tied it 7-7. 

In the eighth, Brett Baty blooped a leadoff single and pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña stole second before Alvarez homered against Caleb Thielbar to give the Mets a 9-7 lead. 

The New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 23, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images

“We needed that one,” Mendoza said.