NEW YORK — Pete Crow-Armstrong didn’t care too much about what it meant to homer against his former organization.
Crow-Armstrong’s solo home run in the sixth inning Sunday tied the game, but the New York Mets’ four runs in the eighth, including three off Porter Hodge, were the difference in the Cubs’ 6-2 loss. It took 18 games for Crow-Armstrong to hit his first home run of the season. In his 24 games since then, the 23-year-old has almost tallied more home runs (10) than singles (11).
But Crow-Armstrong didn’t feel particularly vindicated going deep at Citi Field, where that might have been a regular sight had the Mets not traded him to the Cubs in 2021.
“Nothing, if it has no impact on how this game ends, I don’t give a s−−−,” Crow-Armstrong said when asked whether the long ball meant something to him.
Justin Turner, who spent four years (2010-13) with the Mets before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency, had a slightly different perspective as someone who had not been brought back by New York and went on to hit them well throughout his career.
“Yeah, it feels good anytime you play a team that moved on from you,” Turner said. “You obviously want to have success, whether you say it or not, it’s always a good feeling to be successful against a team that traded you away.”
The Cubs were again without Ian Happ, who wasn’t in the lineup for a second straight game due to oblique soreness he felt on a swing during his first at-bat Friday. Happ, considered day-to-day, played catch and was scheduled to hit Sunday.
As the Cubs return to Wrigley Field on Monday to start a six-game homestand against the Miami Marlins and the White Sox, there were three takeaways from dropping two of three games at Citi Field.
1. Matthew Boyd is providing consistency amid rotation injuries
The Cubs know what they can expect on Matthew Boyd’s start days. More often than not, it has meant giving the team six innings and two earned runs or fewer.
Boyd earned a no-decision Sunday, but his outing — two earned runs, six hits, no walks and eight strikeouts in six innings — marked the sixth time in eight starts this year the 34-year-old lefty pitched into the sixth. The rest of the Cubs’ current rotation has combined for eight such outings.
“You count on their innings as much as anything because you can’t survive with four-inning starts throughout your rotation, so you have to trust these guys to get you deeper into a game,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And they’re thinking they can do it, and they’ve shown they can do it. At the same time, you’ve got to balance what we’re going to ask Matt to do over a six-month schedule.”
Boyd came into Sunday’s start having already nearly eclipsed his innings total with Cleveland in 2024 when he returned from Tommy John surgery for the final two months of the regular season. His consistency has been eerily similar. In 39 2/3 innings last year, Boyd allowed 12 earned runs, four home runs, 13 walks and 46 strikeouts. Through 39 1/3 innings entering Sunday, Boyd had given up 12 earned runs, four home runs, 13 walks and 37 strikeouts.
Boyd hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in 16 consecutive starts, tied with Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta for the third-longest active streak. Boyd has posted a 2.75 ERA in that span.
Mets catcher Luis Torrens’ RBI triple off the left-center field wall in the second, a ball Crow-Armstrong said he should have caught regardless of the difficulty of the play, and Mark Vientos’ home run in the sixth were all the Mets managed off Boyd.
“He’s been phenomenal all year, gives us a chance every time,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I feel like he wants maybe two pitches back, and that’s about all you can really do. … Matty Boyd has been great for us all year … I mean, it’s not really surprising that he goes out there and performs like he does and like he did.”
2. Daniel Palencia stepping up in high-leverage spots
As the Cubs look for veteran reliever Ryan Pressly to get on track, those chances might come in lower-leverage spots, like in Friday’s loss.
That will require another reliever to be called on in big spots. Palencia, in his second big-league season, has seized those opportunities called upon by Counsell. Palencia, who hasn’t given up a run in his last seven appearances while allowing just two hits and three walks in that span, entered in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 6-5 win looking to hold a one-run lead.
A one-out single by Tyrone Taylor and an eight-pitch walk for Francisco Lindor put Palencia in a tough spot. The hard-throwing 25-year-old rallied, though, battling back from a 3-1 count to strike out Juan Soto and ended the inning with the lead intact after Pete Alonso grounded into a force out. It was the type of outing that gives another glimpse of how good Palencia can be.
“For Daniel, there are not bigger moments than those moments, so whatever’s next is not a bigger moment than he experienced (Saturday) night, and I think that’s important for the player to understand,” Counsell said. “You go through something like that and trying to protect a one-run lead, and you’re facing some of the best hitters in the game, and you get the job done. You’ve done it, there’s nothing else to do in terms of there are no bigger moments.
“And whether you’re pitching the ninth inning, whether you’re pitching a playoff game, it’s going to feel the exact same, and that’s a confidence-building experience and hopefully you learn from that.”
3. Cubs drop back-to-back series for the first time this year
Despite the toughest schedule in baseball to start the season, not facing a team under .500 until they went to Pittsburgh on April 29, the Cubs have been rolling behind what has been the best run-producing offense in the majors.
It took until Friday at Citi Field for the Cubs (23-18) to hit their first three-game losing streak of 2025, something only one other big-league team (Mets) had also avoided to that point. Sunday’s loss dropped the series to the Mets, marking the first time the Cubs have lost back-to-back series after the San Francisco Giants took two of three games at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs, though, have a great opportunity ahead to get back on a roll and build off their one-game lead on top of the National League Central with their next seven series coming against teams with a losing record. This upcoming stretch features six games versus the Miami Marlins (15-24), and three against the White Sox (12-29), Rockies (7-33) and Nationals (17-24).
“There’s going to be different whatever trends and whatnot over the course of 162 games,” Boyd said. “So we just keep playing our game, and the best part about baseball is you get an opportunity tomorrow to come out there and play at home with the best fans behind us at Wrigley and I’m looking forward to it.”
