Alvarez's go-ahead homer lifts Mets past Cubs, retakes NL wild-card lead

The Mets moved back into sole possession of the National League’s third wild-card spot with a 9-7 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. They overcame a rocky start from left-hander David Peterson, a string of defensive miscues, and a Chicago rally before Francisco Alvarez delivered the decisive blow with a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth.

New York trailed 6-1 after Peterson was knocked around early, but the Mets rallied behind a pair of timely blasts and a string of runs that shifted the game’s momentum. Chicago loaded the bases on a leadoff walk and a sequence of hits, and Carlos Santana’s two-run double looked like it might be a turning point until a misplayed relay by right fielder Juan Soto opened the door for more. Peterson was pulled after three innings, charged with five earned runs on five hits and two walks. Ian Happ followed with a two-run double that pushed the Cubs’ lead to 5-1. A sequence of defensive lapses by the Mets then helped widen the gap before the offense woke up.

Francisco Lindor gave the Mets an early punch with a leadoff homer on the second pitch of the game, his 10th leadoff homer of the season and 29th overall, putting New York on the scoreboard and signaling the night would not be over. But Chicago answered quickly, and the bottom half of the first saw more trouble for the Mets when Jeff McNeil committed consecutive throwing errors in the fourth, contributing to a 6-1 deficit. The Mets finally found their footing in the fifth, sparked by Brandon Nimmo’s three-run homer off lefty reliever Taylor Rogers. Nimmo’s blast, his 25th of the season, cut the gap to 6-4, and the Mets added two more runs in the inning to pull within a single run.

After a back-and-forth stretch that included Dansby Swanson’s misplay on Alvarez’s grounder and a pair of late-inning threats, the game remained tied 7-7 into the eighth. The Mets finally pressed ahead when Brett Baty blooped a leadoff single, pinch runner Luisangel Acuña stole second, and Alvarez launched a two-run shot off Caleb Thielbar to give New York a 9-7 lead. Edwin Díaz worked six outs to preserve the win, finishing what had become a high-stakes save to secure the milestone victory.

The Mets’ comeback was built on a mix of timely hitting, disciplined at-bats and a willingness to grind through adversity. Nimmo’s three-run homer turned a lopsided deficit into a one-run contest and energized a bench that had been waiting for a chance to swing momentum. Lindor’s early homer offered a spark that the lineup exploited as the inning-by-inning drama unfolded, with Alonso and Soto contributing in key moments as the team clawed back against a Cubs pitching staff that had answered the bell after a shaky start.

Defensively, the game’s turning point came in the fourth when McNeil’s throwing errors opened the door for an extended Cubs advantage. The Mets recovered from that miscue and capitalized on opportunities created by Swanson’s late miscue on Alvarez’s grounder, which allowed five unearned runs to score in the inning for New York. The Cubs, for their part, received productive at-bats from Carson Kelly, Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ, whose early runs forced the Mets to chase the game, but Chicago could not hold the late surge.

Alvarez’s impact extended beyond the eighth-inning homer. His earlier grounder in the eighth forced a crucial miscue from Swanson that helped the Mets push across five unearned runs in a pivotal inning. The young catcher’s late-clutch hit capped a night that demonstrated his growing influence in New York’s late-season push. Alvarez, who had seen a potential game-tying homer robbed by Nationals outfielder Jacob Young just days earlier, answered with perhaps the biggest hit of his brief major league career, providing a sense of urgency and swagger that resonated from the Mets’ dugout.

In the broader context, the win reasserted New York’s position in the NL wild-card race. The Mets moved one game ahead of the Reds, who were defeated by the Pirates 4-2. Cincinnati still holds the tiebreaker over New York by virtue of winning the season series, so any final-week tiebreakers would hinge on that head-to-head results. Still, the Mets have momentum and a direct path to control their destiny in a closing stretch that features a compact three-team battle for the NL’s final postseason berth.

The night also showcased the Mets’ depth and resilience. Lindor’s early homer set the tone for a night of dramatic swings, Nimmo’s timely power changed the complexion of the game, and Alvarez delivered the kind of performance that can define a season. Manager Carlos Mendoza leaned on Díaz to bridge a six-out save in a high-leverage situation, a call that reflected the urgency of the moment and the need to protect a fragile lead late in the game.

The Mets’ victory at Wrigley Field on Sept. 23, 2025, reinforced the notion that, even in a tense and crowded wild-card chase, they are capable of rewriting the late-inning narrative when it matters most. For a club that has endured stretches of rough play, the evening’s sequence—Lindor’s leadoff homer, Nimmo’s fifth-inning rally, Alvarez’s eighth-inning blast, and Díaz’s late-closing performance—stands as a defining snapshot of their push toward postseason contention.

![Francisco Alvarez]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/new-york-mets-catcher-francisco-112008978.jpg?w=1024 ![Brandon Nimmo]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/new-york-mets-outfielder-brandon-112005758.jpg?w=1024

As the final week of the regular season approaches, the Mets’ mix of potent offense and late-game bullpen depth will be tested again. The team will look to build on the momentum generated by Alvarez’s clutch hit and the series of comeback plays that made Tuesday’s win possible, keeping them squared in the hunt for a postseason berth and highlighting the drama that makes baseball’s late-season stretch so compelling.