04/18/26 04:01:00
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04/18 15:59 CDT Kelly homers as the Cubs hand the Mets their 10th straight loss
with a 4-2 victory
Kelly homers as the Cubs hand the Mets their 10th straight loss with a 4-2
victory
By JAY COHEN
AP Baseball Writer
CHICAGO (AP) --- Pinch-hitter Carson Kelly connected for a tiebreaking
three-run homer in the sixth inning, and the Chicago Cubs handed the New York
Mets their 10th consecutive loss with a 4-2 victory on Saturday.
Ian Happ also homered for Chicago in its fourth consecutive win. Jameson
Taillon (1-1) pitched six crisp innings.
It's the longest losing streak for New York since it dropped 11 in a row from
Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 in 2004. It has been outscored 60-18 during the slide.
The game was tied at 1 when Mets right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-2) issued two
consecutive walks with two down in the sixth. Peralta then was replaced by
left-hander Brooks Raley, and Kelly was sent up to hit for Moiss Ballesteros,
a rookie who bats from the left side.
Kelly drove Raley's first pitch into the bleachers in left-center for his
second homer of the season, sending a charge through the crowd of 36,189. It
was Kelly's second career pinch-hit drive.
It also was the first homer allowed by Raley since Aug. 13, 2023, stopping a
streak of 53 2/3 innings.
Mark Vientos homered for New York. Francisco Lindor and Luis Robert Jr. each
had two hits.
The Mets scored an unearned run on second baseman Nico Hoerner's throwing error
in the eighth, but Ben Brown escaped the jam when Vientos grounded out.
Caleb Thielbar handled the ninth for his first save of the season. Daniel
Palencia, Chicago's usual closer, was placed on the 15-day injured list on
Friday with a left oblique strain.
New York jumped in front on Vientos' 434-foot drive to left-center in the
second. He went 1 for 25 with eight strikeouts and no walks in his previous
eight games.
Happ responded with a leadoff shot in the bottom half, a 431-foot drive to
center. Happ also went deep during Chicago's 12-4 victory in the series opener.
Up next
Left-hander David Peterson (0-3, 6.41 ERA) starts the series finale for New
York, and right-hander Javier Assad (1-1, 8.10 ERA) pitches for Chicago on
Sunday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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