Taijuan Walker struck out a career-high 12 and improved to 4-0 in six home starts, leading the New York Mets over the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Tuesday night. Pete Alonso drove in three runs and center fielder Kevin Pillar and second baseman Luis Guillorme teamed on a thrilling relay to throw out Jake Marisnick at the plate in the ninth inning.
Walker has a 2.12 ERA, a big part of the NL East-leading Mets' success - especially at Citi Field, where New York is 6-0 in his outings and matched its best 25-game start at 19-6.
Walker (6-2) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, walked none for the third time and reached 96.5 mph. Walker had struck out 11 seven times previously, all before he had Tommy John surgery on April 25, 2018.
DeGrom had a 0.56 ERA heading into his start against the Cubs on Wednesday night but is just 3-2 in six home starts, plagued by a lack of run support.
Javier Baez put the Cubs ahead 2-0 in the third with his 15th home run, driving a sinker to the opposite field in right-center. Alonso hit a two-run single in the bottom half and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Seth Lugo got six outs for his first save since returning on June 2 from elbow surgery, and the Mets (34-25) won for the fifth time in six games to move nine games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.
Chicago, tied with Milwaukee for the NL Central lead, lost its second straight to the Mets after winning seven in a row at Citi Field going back to 2018.
Sixteen consecutive batters made out before Willson Contreras' single with one out in the ninth.
Jake Marisnick pinch ran and Eric Sogard singled to right-center. As Pillar ran down the ball and threw toward Guillorme, Cubs third base coach Willie Harris made the questionable decision to send Marisnick. Guillorme caught the ball in short right, made a quick turn and fired a one-hop throw to catcher James McCann. Marisnick made a head-first slide, and McCann tagged him on the left shoulder.
Lugo walked Jayson Heyward, then fanned rookie Sergio Alcantara for the Cubs' season-high 15th strikeout.
Alec Mills (2-1) allowed three runs, five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. Cubs pitchers walked six, raising their total to 14 in the first two games of the series.
Cubs star Kris Bryant was hit by a pitch in the first inning and left in the middle of the second with what the team said was a bruised right hand. Bryant initially stayed in the game after he was hit by a first-pitch 93.4 mph sinker, then went to run at first base.
X-rays were negative.
Jacob DeGrom (6-2) takes a 22-inning scoreless streak and a 0.56 ERA, the lowest in major league history through 10 starts, into his outing Wednesday against the Cubs and RHP Robert Stock (0-3, 4.12 at Triple-A), who will be selected from Triple-A Iowa to make his first big league appearance since last September with Boston. DeGrom left his outing Friday against San Diego with right flexor tendinitis.
