UNDATED (AP) — The New York Mets must be imagining how good they’ll be when a few of their position players come off the injured list.
The patchwork Mets are a season-high nine games over .500 at 34-25 after beating the NL Central-leading Cubs for the second straight night, 3-2. Taijuan Walker struck out a career-high 12 while limiting Chicago to two runs and five hits with no walks.
Pete Alonso hit a game-tying, two-run single and snapped a 2-2 tie with a sacrifice fly as the Mets won for the seventh time in nine games.
Seth Lugo got six outs for his first save since returning on June 2 from elbow surgery. Lugo avoided a blown save when Jake Marisnick was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the ninth.
Javier Báez hit his 15th home run for the Cubs, a two-run shot that opened the scoring in the third inning.
The Mets continue to play without Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis, each of whom were in the starting lineup on opening day.
In other major league action:
— Yan Gomes launched a grand slam and Trea Turner got four hits in the Nationals’ third straight win, 8-1 over the Pirates. Patrick Corbin gave up one run and eight hits over 8 1/3 innings as Washington dealt Pittsburgh its ninth consecutive loss.
— The Reds broke open a scoreless game in the 10th inning without the benefit of a hit and held on to beat the Brewers 2-1. Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Kyle Farmer added a sacrifice fly in Cincinnati’s fifth straight win.
— The Cardinals pulled out a 2-1 win over the Marlins on Paul Goldschmidt’s game-ending homer in the ninth. Goldschmidt also had a tying RBI single in the sixth to help St. Louis win its second straight since dropping nine of 10.
— Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Phillies. Betts also provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth as the Dodgers won in front of 52,078, the largest crowd to attend a professional sports league game in the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
— Mike Yastrzemski crushed a grand slam in the eighth inning to complete the Giants’ wild comeback in a 9-8 thriller over the Diamondbacks. Arizona was ahead 7-0 in the second inning before absorbing its 21st consecutive road loss, one shy of the major league record set by the 1963 Mets.
— Ryan McMahon homered, tripled and drove in four runs as the Rockies rallied from an early deficit to beat the skidding Padres, 8-4. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 20th home run of the season for San Diego, which has lost 11 of 15.
— Dallas Keuchel won his fifth straight decision by tossing four-hit ball over seven innings of the White Sox’s 3-0 shutout of the Rays. Adam Engel hit a solo home run and Tim Anderson had three hits as the AL Central leaders bounced back from Monday’s 5-2 loss to the AL East leaders.
— Alex Verdugo slammed a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Chris Martin in the eighth inning to send the Red Sox past the Braves, 10-8. Rafael Devers added a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help Boston improve to a major league-best 36-4 when scoring at least four times.
— The Yankees erased a 5-2 deficit before Clint Frazier snapped an eighth-inning tie with a pinch-hit double to give New York a 6-5 win over the Blue Jays. Chris Gittens homered for his first major league hit, Gary Sanchez went deep and Brett Gardner added a blast in the Yanks’ third win in 10 games.
— Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double while the Indians scored five times in the fourth inning of a 7-2 win over the Orioles. Bobby Bradley delivered a solo homer and two RBIs as Cleveland handed Baltimore its team record-extending 17th straight road loss.
— Casey Mize turned in his eighth quality start in his last nine games, giving up three runs over 6 2/3s to pitch the Tigers to a 4-2 win at Kansas City. Cabrera doubled and singled to drive in one run and score another, helping Detroit send the Royals to their fifth loss in a row.
— The Athletics were 6-4 winners over the Angels as Sean Murphy homered for the second consecutive night and Elvis Andrus hit a two-run double. Shohei Ohtani hit his 18th home run with two outs in the eighth inning for Los Angeles before Oakland closed out its fifth straight win.
— Jose Altuve belted a grand slam in the 10th inning to complete the Astros’ late comeback in a 6-3 verdict over the Rangers. Texas was one out from a nine-inning win until Carlos Correa homered.
— J.P. Crawford homered on starter J.A. Happ’s first pitch, before Shed Long Jr. added a three-run triple an inning later, guiding the Mariners to a 10-0 thumping of the Twins. Seattle starter Chris Flexen tossed eight sharp innings while striking out a career-high eight.
