Cubs held hitless into the 8th, but push past Mets 3-1

Christopher Morel hit a two-run homer off Edwin Díaz to snap a ninth-inning tie and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 3-1 on Monday night after being held hitless by Luis Severino into the eighth.

Making his sixth start with his new team, a dominant Severino held the Cubs hitless until Dansby Swanson singled on the right-hander’s 89th pitch with nobody out in the eighth.

Swanson connected on an 0-2 sinker clocked at 97 mph, sending a soft liner over shortstop into shallow left-center for a clean base hit. His run at a historic performance over, Severino received a standing ovation from a Citi Field crowd of 25,046 that included actor and comedian Bill Murray, a noted Cubs fan.

Chicago went on to win 3-1, but Severino completed the eighth and strolled off the mound to another exuberant ovation with the score tied 1-all. He struck out five and walked two, allowing just one hit while throwing 68 of 101 pitches for strikes.

Severino was locked in a speedy duel with Cubs starter Jameson Taillon, who needed only 78 pitches to get through 7 1/3 terrific innings. The first 6 1/2 innings were played in 71 minutes, and the entire game took just 2 hours, 5 minutes.




(AP Photo Frank Franklin II)