The Chicago Cubs look to go for the sweep against the 2nd-place New York Mets at Citi Field. Cubs de-facto ace Jake Arrieta looks to go against Mets starter Jacob deGrom. DeGrom enters the game having a breakout year with an era at a sparkling 2.18.

The Cubs entered the game having shutout the struggling Mets in the first two games of the series 1-0 and 2-0. The Cubs got on the board first in the 2nd when Jonathan Herrera had a sac bunt to deGrom that brought home Chris Coghlan from third.

The lead would not hold, however, as the Mets scored the game-tying run in the 3rd inning with Curtis Granderson hitting a ground rule double to right field, scoring deGrom. The Cubs scored a run again in the 5th off a single from Anthony Rizzo that brought home Starlin Castro from 2nd. Jonathan Herrera gave the Cubs some insurance runs in the 6th inning with a 2-run home run that bounced off the padding and went over the wall. Adding some salt to the wound, Miguel Montero hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th inning putting the Cubs up 6-1.

DeGrom, normally dominant pitching at Citi Field, struggled a bit, giving up 3 earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings. Jake Arrieta pitched a gem, going 8 strong innings, giving up 1 earned run, striking out 7 and giving up 5 hits. The Cubs win puts them 1.5 games ahead of the Giants for the second wild card spot. The loss for the Mets puts them back at .500 with a 40-40 record and 3.5 games behind the Cubs for the Wild Card.

Game Notes

-Cubs second baseman Addison Russell had two great defensive plays in the 4th inning, including diving at a line drive to make the out. He also snagged another one headed for the outfield in the 7th inning.

-New York 3B Daniel Murphy played his third game back after an extended DL trip with his quad injury. He went 1-4 with an error.

-Herrera's home run in the 6th was the Cubs first home run in 9 games and only 9th home run of his career spanning over 430 games.

-This is the 4th time in Cubs history that they have swept the season series of an opponent with at least 5 games (Cubs are 7-0 against the Mets this season and have won nine straight against them)

-The Cubs pitchers gave up 1 run over the 3 games this series.