If you like pitchers’ duels, tonight was as good as it gets for the first five innings, right down to the chilly weather and crosswind.
Noah Syndergaard, the Mets’ top pitching prospect – and one of the best in the game – gave the Cubs fits for a while, but that’s no fault of the Cubs. The young man is legit good – I’m #NotAScout, but I saw a plus fastball, a plus curveball, and a plus changeup. He’s going to do this to many teams this year, especially the first time they see him.
The Cubs were able to wear him down a bit, thanks in large part to a hustle infield single by Kris Bryant that lead to a long, long inning for Syndergaard in the third. They broke through in the sixth with an RBI double by Starlin Castro and then a no-doubter by Chris Coghlan (who has been the unluckiest hitter in baseball this year, so he deserved it).
From there, the Cubs added, including on a moonshot by Bryant in the 8th. The young man had himself another night, about which, more later. Plenty of nice performances in this one.
Tonight’s nod, though, goes to the starter …