Christopher Morel hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning for the Chicago Cubs, who were no-hit by Luis Severino into the eighth inning before coming back to beat the host New York Mets 3-1 Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Mike Tauchman doubled with one out in the ninth against Edwin Diaz (0-1) before Ian Happ struck out. Morel followed by hitting a 3-1 pitch well into the left field seats.
Brandon Nimmo led off the first with a homer for the Mets. Nick Madrigal tied the score 1-1 by hitting into a run-scoring forceout in the eighth.
Chicago’s Mark Leiter Jr. (1-1) got the final two outs of the eighth and Hector Neris earned his fourth save in the ninth, when he walked two batters before closing out the win by whiffing DJ Stewart and Brett Baty.
The late comeback by the Cubs left Severino with a tough-luck no-decision on an evening in which he mounted the longest no-hit bid by a Mets starter in almost eight years.
Severino threw just 79 pitches through the first seven innings and allowed just two baserunners — via a fourth-inning walk of Happ and a seventh-inning plunking of Tauchman.
Michael Busch drew a leadoff walk in the eighth before Dansby Swanson laced a broken-bat single over shortstop to end the longest no-hit bid by a Mets starter since Steven Matz tossed 7 1/3 no-hit innings against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 14, 2016.
Busch moved to third and scored when Matt Mervis and Madrigal — the latter of whom was pinch-hitting for Yan Gomes — hit into forceouts.
Severino got Pete Crow-Armstrong to fly out to become the second Mets pitcher in as many days to last eight innings. The right-hander struck out five in his longest outing since he went eight innings for the New York Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 16, 2018.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out one over 7 1/3 innings. He gave up two hits in the first, when Nimmo homered and Jeff McNeil singled with two outs, before retiring 20 of the final 23 batters he faced.
The Cubs snapped a two-game losing streak. The Mets have dropped six of eight.
–Field Level Media
