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Alfonso Soriano hit an eighth-inning three-run homer Friday afternoon as the Chicago Cubs overcame four misplayed fly balls to top the Mets 5-3 at Wrigley Field.
Pat Misch, thrust into the starting role because of the Mets’ depleted rotation, threw seven strong innings, left the game with a 1-1 lead and had a chance for his first Major League win, but reliever Brian Stokes couldn’t hold the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Stokes let in the tying run before floating a hanging slider that Alfonso Soriano jumped on for a three-run homer.
Misch (7 in., 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB) lost his no-hitter with one out in the first on a Milton Bradley double, advancing our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,611 New York Mets games without a no-no. Derrek Lee followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Cubs.
The Mets got the run back in the second when Jeff Francoeur led off with a double, advanced to third on a Fernando Tatis single and scored when Bradley misplayed an Omir Santos fly ball that hit Bradley’s shoe (it was generously scored a hit).
It remained 1-1 until the top of the eighth, when Alfonso Soriano – who earlier had dropped a fly ball for an error – misjudged an Angel Pagan fly ball and let it drop for a double. After Luis Castillo sacrificed Pagan to third and Daniel Murphy walked, Tatis blasted a ball to the left field warning track that, too, was dropped by Soriano. Pagan scored, but Murphy was thrown out at the plate.
The Cubs then jumped on Stokes in the bottom of the eighth.
Bradley led off with a double down the right field line, advanced to third on a Lee fly out and scored on a Aramis Ramirez single. Stokes then walked Baker before giving up the three-run dinger.
