Quintana, Cubs cruise past Mets

[June 01, 2018]  Jose Quintana tossed six scoreless innings and combined with four relievers on a four-hitter Thursday night, and Ben Zobrist finished a triple shy of the cycle as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 5-1 at Citi Field.

The Cubs have won four of five. The Mets have lost six of eight.

Quintana (6-4) ended an inconsistent May on a positive note by allowing three hits and two walks while striking out six. He retired the final 11 batters he faced after getting into a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third.

In six May starts, Quintana allowed one run or fewer over at least six innings three times and failed to get out of the fifth inning three times.

Brandon Morrow inherited a two-on, two-out situation in the ninth and retired Amed Rosario on a fielder's choice for his 13th save.

Zobrist grounded out in the first, singled in the third, snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the fifth off Hansel Robles (2-2) and doubled in the seventh before grounding out to end the eighth.

Chicago's Kyle Schwarber added an RBI double in the sixth, Jason Heyward delivered a run-scoring groundout in the seventh and Willson Contreras lofted a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Heyward and Kris Bryant each finished with two hits.

Brandon Nimmo hit a double and an eighth-inning homer for the Mets. It was the third straight multi-hit game for Nimmo, who is batting .328 with five homers and nine RBIs in his past 18 games.

Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) pitches against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Robles took the loss after allowing the two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out one in one inning.

Mets relievers allowed all five runs on eight hits and four walks in five innings following a strong first start of the season by Seth Lugo. The right-hander allowed three hits and walked none while striking out three in four innings. Lugo was thrust into the rotation when Noah Syndergaard was placed on the disabled list earlier this week due to a finger injury.

--Field Level Media

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