CHICAGO \u2014 After spending 54 hours removed from the driver\u2019s seat, the Mets plunked themselves back into it Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, the National League\u2019s third wild card is again the Mets\u2019 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited we\u2019re back in the lead,\u201d Alvarez said through an interpreter. \u201cThere are a lot of things we can\u2019t 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Francisco Alvarez gestures to the Mets\u2019 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<\/p>\n
Francisco Alvarez celebrates after hitting the go-ahead two-run home run in the Mets\u2019 comeback win over the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
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\u2019 Jacob Young. On this night, he yelled toward the Mets dugout as he ran to first base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alvarez\u2019s message?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just said, \u2018Let\u2019s go,\u2019 \u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mets also received a big homer from Brandon Nimmo, whose three-run blast in the fifth completed the team\u2019s comeback from a 6-1 deficit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taking no chances, manager Carlos Mendoza deployed Edwin D\u00edaz for a six-out save. D\u00edaz finished the job, striking out five in two perfect innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brandon Nimmo is greeted by Pete Alonso after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the Mets\u2019 comeback win over the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really fired up,\u201d D\u00edaz said. \u201cAfter 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peterson, in just his latest awful performance, allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks over 1 \u00b9\/\u2083 innings. The lefty\u2019s free fall over the past two months includes four starts in his past eight in which he\u2019s allowed at least six earned runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As it stands, Peterson is aligned to start the regular-season finale Sunday in Miami, if he\u2019s not utilized before that in the bullpen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need this guy,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cI know it\u2019s been a struggle. It wasn\u2019t a good one today, but our job is to continue to support him and he\u2019s going to play a big role here in the next few days, so we\u2019re counting on him to flush this one and then be ready for whenever we\u2019re giving him the ball again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Francisco Lindor swatted the game\u2019s second pitch into the bleachers in left-center for his 10th leadoff homer this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 a ball that Juan Soto misjudged in right field that should have been the final out \u2014 putting the Mets in a 2-1 hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\u2019 comeback over the Cubs. David Banks-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Peterson got knocked out in the third on Ian Happ\u2019s two-run double that extended the Cubs lead to 5-1. Nico Hoerner delivered an RBI single for the inning\u2019s first run after Justin Turner walked leading off, Matt Shaw singled and Pete Crow-Armstrong sacrifice bunted the runners to second and third.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a couple of pitches I didn\u2019t get to the locations I wanted to, and they took advantage,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cOther than that they didn\u2019t chase some good pitches that I thought I threw outside the zone and you can\u2019t control that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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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\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Mets pitcher Edwin D\u00edaz (39) reacts to his team\u2019s win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Chicago. AP<\/p>\n
Lindor\u2019s RBI single in the sixth gave the Mets a 7-6 lead after McNeil stroked a two-out double and Alvarez walked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gregory Soto allowed a two-out single to Hoerner in the sixth before Tyler Rogers entered and walked Happ. Seiya Suzuki\u2019s ensuing RBI single tied it 7-7.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the eighth, Brett Baty blooped a leadoff single and pinch-runner Luisangel Acu\u00f1a stole second before Alvarez homered against Caleb Thielbar to give the Mets a 9-7 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 23, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed that one,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 After spending 54 hours removed from the driver\u2019s seat, the Mets plunked themselves back into it…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":250663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,7599,1271,7697,3689,1266,405,403,1305,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-250662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brandon-nimmo","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-francisco-alvarez","12":"tag-francisco-lindor","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-mets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115257374655918517","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}