If we dont get a win going into the Chas | Forum

NEW YORK -- Jon Lester and the Chicago Cubs got wiped out again by the New York Mets. Jeff Brantley Jersey .Wilmer Flores went 6 for 6 with two of New Yorks five home runs, and the Mets romped to another four-game sweep of the Cubs by battering Lester in a 14-3 blowout Sunday.After sweeping four games against Chicago in the NL Championship Series last October, the Mets outscored the Cubs 32-11 in winning their first four matchups this year. Chicago took all seven regular-season meetings in 2015.It was just a rough weekend. Give the Mets credit, manager Joe Maddon said. They got us this time. They got us last year. This is a really easy game for me to forget about.Following their sensational start to the season, the Cubs limped home Sunday in a legitimate slump. Chicago finished 4-7 on its longest trip of the year, a swing marked by Maddon putting three pitchers in the outfield during one game and a catcher on the mound in another.Hampered by several significant injuries, the Cubs are 12-15 since June 5 and 2-12 during that stretch against winning teams. Looking to end their long championship drought, they hit the halfway point of the season with a 51-30 record -- barely still best in the majors -- and a comfortable cushion in the NL Central.Were confident. Were fine. Its not a matter of anyone panicking by any means, Lester said. Im sure everyone in this clubhouse will be honest: We werent going to be on that pace that we were on for the entire season.Curtis Granderson, Rene Rivera and pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson also homered as New York set season highs for runs and hits (22) in support of Noah Syndergaard (9-3).Flores hit a leadoff homer and an RBI single in the second, part of a seven-run outburst that spelled the end of a miserable day for Lester (9-4), the NL pitcher of the month in June.The left-hander gave up eight runs and nine hits in 1 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 301 career starts over 11 major league seasons. He was 5-0 in his previous seven outings and entered with a 2.03 ERA that ranked second in the majors to injured Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (1.78).I wasnt throwing the ball down the middle by any means. Theyre just swinging the bats really well right now, Lester said. I feel like they didnt miss a mistake the whole series.Before Friday night, the Mets had never hit five home runs in a game at Citi Field, which opened in 2009. They did it twice in 45 hours against a Cubs pitching staff that began the day with a 2.97 ERA -- lowest in the majors by a considerable margin.Weve got all the tools that we need, catcher Miguel Montero said. I think itll be fine. Obviously, its not going to be as easy as it was maybe early on, but I dont think its going to be as bad, either.Maddon began pulling starters in the sixth as his team lost for the 10th time in 14 games.By the seventh, Montero was on the mound to save the bullpen, throwing pitches that mostly ranged from 79-84 mph. He yielded one run and four hits in 1 1/3 innings.They were all two-seam fastballs, sinkers. I tried to throw one breaking ball, and I hit the guy. So, Im like, `Oh my god, I dont want to hit anybody. I dont want to hurt anybody. So I tried to stay on the plate and make them hit the ball on the ground, Montero said. I dont remember the last time I pitched. Something for the bucket list.Flores drove in four runs, scored three and raised his batting average from .224 to .255. He entered in an 0-for-14 slump before joining Edgardo Alfonzo (1999) as the only Mets players with six hits in a game.New Yorks previous four-game sweep of the Cubs during the regular season came in June 1985 at Shea Stadium. The teams play three more times this season, at Wrigley Field from July 18-20.It was terrible. It was bad. They outplayed us, Montero said. We were sloppy.PITCH AND CATCHWith the game well in hand, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom was sent up as a pinch hitter in the eighth and flied out against Montero. I thought it was equal at that point, Maddon said. I have to believe that is somewhat of a first.TRAINERS ROOMOF Chris Coghlan went on the 15-day DL with a right ribcage strain and expects to have an MRI on Tuesday in Chicago. INF Jeimer Candelario was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and played third base in his major league debut. He struck out three times but singled in the seventh off Syndergaard for his first career hit.UP NEXTRHP Kyle Hendricks (6-6, 2.76 ERA) pitches Monday afternoon at Wrigley Field against Cincinnati LHP Cody Reed (0-2, 9.00) in the opener of a three-game series that features all day games. Sub-optimal, in a sense, Maddon said. Bill Terry Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Gary Lavelle Jersey . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/866u-will-clark-jersey-giants.html . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Its a measure of how far Dale Earnhardt Jr. has come that people are talking like hes in a slump.?Sure, NASCARs most compelling star hasnt won a race since November at Phoenix International Raceway. But sitting 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, second among winless drivers so far in 2016, doesnt exactly hark back to 2008-12, when Earnhardt truly was embroiled in a slump.?He has come close to winning a number of times this year, logging four second-place finishes, the most recent in early June at Pocono Raceway. But a poor month of May and an inordinate number of crashes -- most notably at the restrictor-plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, places normally considered an Earnhardt specialty -- have resulted in four finishes of 32nd or worse and the perception that not all is well in the No. 88 camp.?Dale Jr. admits that this years results arent up to the standards he and crew chief Greg Ives expect out of their group at Hendrick Motorsports, especially on the heels of two consecutive three-win seasons. Theyve sometimes struggled in qualifying, making it harder for the driver and pit crew to get themselves into a competitive position on race day.?We are a little frustrated with how we ran through the month of May, Earnhardt said Thursday at Daytona while waiting out the summer rain.?We have seen more speed out of our cars but had some bad finishes, wrecks and so forth. Tore up a lot of cars this year, and its uncharacteristic, I think, for us to be in so many accidents. In the past several years, we have sat around the top five in points throughout the season and things just came easier for us. They are not coming so easy today.? ? ?So where we are in points is very frustrating, he continued.?It creates a lot of anxiety between me and Greg.?I think we are way better than where we are, and we both are not happy with where we are in the points. We are wondering and worrying about trying to make the Chase, and it shouldnt be something that this team is concerned with.?Earnhardts No. 88 Chevrolet has qualified for the Chase every year since 2011, but it wasnt until 2014 that he put together the kind of consistent season that made people think of him as a potential Cup champion.?Last year, he made a smooth transition between crew chiefs as Steve Letarte departed to pursue a television career with NBC, opening the door for Ives. The 2015 campaign was highlighted by restrictor-plate wins at Talladega in the spring and the summer Daytona race. Hendrick brought that car, named Amelia, back for the plate races this year, but Earnhardt crashed out of both.?In retrospect, he thinks the 88 teams dependence on a proven steed ended up costing it because other teams developed their cars better over the past 18 months.? ?Amelia has taken a place of honor in the race car graveyard on the property outside Earnhardtss North Carolina home. Wholesale Giants Jerseys. ?No, were not going to be naming cars anymore, he said with a laugh. I knew as soon as we did that, it sort of took off and put a lot of pressure on that car and the team. These cars just dont stick around long enough to get names. You used to race cars for years and years and they would show a personality. These days, you only keep a car for maybe a year before its unrecognizable or its cut out of the herd.?We had so much success with that car last year that we ran it this year, and we probably shouldnt have, he added. There are newer ideas and theories and better ways to do things that car didnt have. We have a new car, and well see how this car does. Weve got some good direction on trying to improve and built this car with some newer ideas. Hopefully its going to go out there and be quick.?Letarte, who was involved in the build and development of Amelia in 2014, said he was surprised Ives and the No. 88 team raced the car at Talladega after the crash at Daytona.?I was pretty shocked, just because the sport moves along so quickly that normally you can always build something better or newer, Letarte said. Its no different than Joe Gibbs Racing or Stewart-Haas Racing, where you see new cars week in and week out.?I would expect the guys and the group with the 88 and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports to feel very confident in the car they bring, he added.?No doubt the fact that they are in Daytona can only help. Earnhardt seems to have inherited plenty of restrictor-plate savvy from his late father, recording a total of 10 Cup Series wins at Daytona and Talladega.?He has earned a total of 17 victories at Daytona across all NASCAR platforms. And even if he cant win this weekend in the Coke Zero 400, Dale Jr. realizes that he needs to get a win sometime between now and September, or at least put together a series of consistent results, to guarantee another Chase appearance.?At 12th in the standings, he is second to Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott among winless drivers. But he is only 25 points ahead of the 16th-place driver idling on the Chase cutoff line -- another Hendrick teammate, Kasey Kahne.?I definitely come in here to Daytona thinking this is a great opportunity to win a race, Earnhardt said.? Hopefully, we can put a string of races together that will give us a good cushion between us and the next guys fighting for those last few spots [in the Chase].?Obviously, we need to get a win to put all that to bed, but nothing is guaranteed, he noted.?If we dont get a win going into the Chase, we are going to have to do well in these next 10 races and just be real consistent. Hopefully, we just get to Richmond and we dont have a lot of pressure about trying to make the Chase. ' ' '