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 Nate Schierholtz gave them a reason Tuesday.
The right fielder singled home the winning run in the ninth inning,
and the Cubs came back to beat the New York Mets 2-1.
Schierholtz's line drive to right field came off Scott Rice (1-2).
Anthony Rizzo scored after singling to start the inning.
"There's nothing like it," said Schierholtz, who finished with three
hits. "It was nice to do it as a Cub for the first time."
With two outs and a runner on second, down 0-2 in the count against
a left-hander, the left-handed-hitter Schierholtz didn't complicate
things at the plate.
"In that situation, you just want to put the ball in play," he said.
"Anything can happen."
Two batters earlier, Mets third baseman David Wright bobbled a
grounder that allowed Rizzo to reach second without an attempt to
turn a double play.
"It bounced a little higher than I thought it would and got me in
the heel of the glove," Wright said. "I'm not sure if we get both
outs, but we definitely get the out at second. I wish I would have
caught it cleanly."
Chicago reliever Hector Rondon (1-1) allowed a single in the top of
the ninth before inducing an inning-ending double play.
Cubs left fielder Chris Coghlan led off the eighth with a homer on a
2-2 pitch from Josh Edgin to tie the game at 1-1. It was Coghlan's
first homer of the season and the first Edgin allowed this year.
The Cubs were 0-27 in games they trailed entering the eighth inning
and looked just as hopeless until Coghlan's drive.
New York right-hander Zack Wheeler allowed just two hits -- both to
Schierholtz -- over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out seven and
walked two.
Right fielder Curtis Granderson went 3-for-3 and drove in the Mets'
lone run in the first inning.
The Mets plenty had of opportunities to give themselves a working
margin -- especially against Chicago starter Jake Arrieta -- but
they left 10 runners on base, including nine through the first five
innings.
"We gave this away," Wright said. "Any time you put that many
runners in scoring position and you only come away with one, that
kind of gets the momentum back on their side, and they were able to
take advantage of it late."
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The biggest miss came in the third when New York loaded the bases
with no outs but failed to score.
Arrieta struggled with his command, but he was able to hold the Mets
at bay until he was removed after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up seven
hits and one run with three walks and two strikeouts.
"In some big situations, I was able to make a lot of good pitches to
keep it to one run," Arrieta said.
New York saw its three-game winning streak end.
Granderson's sacrifice fly scored center fielder Matt den Dekker in
the first to give New York a 1-0 lead. Den Dekker started the inning
with a single, stole second and then took third on a wild pitch.
The wild pitch highlighted Arrieta's early control issues. He threw
19 pitches in the first -- just eight for strikes. He consistently
fell behind in counts.
Arrieta said, "A couple years ago, I probably give up four or five
runs in an outing like that."
NOTES: Cubs C Welington Castillo (left rib inflammation) was placed
on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 2. Castillo said he
injured himself in his first at-bat during Sunday's 9-0 loss to
Milwaukee. The Cubs purchased the contract of C Eli Whiteside from
Triple-A Iowa. ... RHP Jose Veras (0-1, 8.10 ERA) was designated for
assignment, effectively ending his time with the Cubs. Veras began
the year as Chicago's closer, but was removed from the role after
blowing his first two save opportunities. RHP Hector Rondon came off
paternity leave to fill the roster spot. ... After a taxing
five-game series in Philadelphia, Mets manager Terry Collins said he
was taking the situation with his bench and bullpen day by day,
hinting the team may add a position player before Wednesday's game.
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