Mets’ bats shut down star rookie Shota Imanaga in beatdown over Cubs
CHICAGO — The collision between a sizzling starting pitcher and lineup in the same category produced a giant fireball bearing a Mets logo Friday.
Shota Imanaga, a strong early candidate for National League Rookie of the Year, simply got pummeled from the start, with the Mets resuming the beat-down tactics that began on their last homestand.
How bad was it for the Cubs left-hander? Consider that he began the afternoon with a 1.89 ERA and ended it at 2.96. That’s a rough day at the office — or, in this case, the Friendly Confines.
The Mets blasted three homers against Imanaga and rolled to an 11-1 victory at Wrigley Field. It was an eighth victory in nine games for the Mets, who had a seven-game winning streak snapped two days earlier in Texas.
J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo all homered for the Mets, who have reached double digits in scoring three times in their last five games.
Jose Iglesias added to the attack with a 4-for-5 performance. “
“We know we have a good lineup and we preach it and sometimes it shows up and sometimes it doesn’t,” Martinez said. “Today and that first game in [Texas], too, you saw the kind of potential this lineup has.”
Imanaga had allowed more than two earned runs in a start only once this season. On this day, he was tagged for 10 earned runs on 11 hits and was removed after three-plus innings.
The Mets faced Imanaga on May 1 at Citi Field and were shut out over seven innings.
The parade started with Martinez’s three-run homer in the first after Francisco Lindor led off the game with a double and Pete Alonso walked.
The blast was the ninth this season for Martinez, who started the day with a .936 OPS in June.
“[Imanaga] fell behind early and gave me a good fastball to hit,” Martinez said. “I feel that his fastball today, compared to when we faced him last time, had a little bit less.”
Martinez’s analysis was correct. Imanaga averaged 90.1 mph with his four-seam fastball Friday. In his previous outing against the Mets, the left-hander averaged 91.8 mph with the pitch.
Jose Quintana was staked to a 6-1 lead in the third and lasted 6 ¹/₃ innings.
The left-hander allowed one unearned run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in a second straight solid outing.
The Cubs loaded the bases in the first against Quintana with help from Mark Vientos’ error — his first this season.
But Christopher Morel hit into a double play (with one run scoring), dousing the Cubs’ chances of a big inning. Alvarez homered leading off the second.
It was Alvarez’s first homer since returning from the injured list last week. Alvarez’s only other homer this season came March 30.
Before the inning was complete, Nimmo hit a two-run homer that extended the Mets’ lead to 6-1.
The homer was Nimmo’s third in five games against three different teams (the Padres and Rangers previously).
Imanaga slogged into the third and allowed a leadoff double to Alonso before Starling Marte singled him to third.
After Alonso was tagged out between third and home on a grounder, Iglesias’ RBI single gave the Mets a 7-1 lead.
“We took [Imanaga’s] heater away,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We were ready for the fastball and when we got pitches in the zone, especially with the fastball, we were ready to go. … One through nine, I thought the approach was great because we were ready for his fastball.”
Martinez drove in his fourth run of the game with a single in the fourth.
That rally began with Lindor’s leadoff double and a single by Nimmo.
But the Mets weren’t finished in the inning. Alonso walked and Marte’s RBI fielder’s choice put the Mets ahead, 9-1.
Iglesias’ ensuing two-run single continued the deluge.
Iglesias’ four hits matched a career high. “I’m just competing every at-bat,” said Iglesias, who owns a .986 OPS since joining the club three weeks ago. “It’s just try to help the team and try to be on base any way I can to continue to score runs.”
