Swanson, Ramirez Torch Mets as Cubs Roll 10-5

Dansby Swanson went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and Pedro Ramirez crossed the plate four times as the Cubs dismantled the Mets 10-5 on June 24. Chicago erased a two-run deficit in the fourth inning and never looked back, turning a back-and-forth early game into a comfortable rout.

The game looked like it might belong to New York after the second inning. Francisco Alvarez homered 387 feet to left center to tie it at 1, and then A.J. Ewing followed with a 420-foot shot to right center that scored Wagaman and pushed the Mets to a 3-1 lead — a swing that moved New York's win probability from 54% to 75%. That's when the Cubs went to work. In the fourth, Ramirez singled to right to score Hoerner, Swanson singled to left to score Kelly, and Crow-Armstrong dropped a bunt single to shortstop that scored Ramirez and put Chicago ahead 4-3. The Mets answered immediately when Mark Vientos launched a 416-foot homer to left center to knot it at 4, but that would be as close as New York would get.

The sixth inning was where Chicago separated itself. Swanson tripled to center to score Ramirez, then scored himself on a fielder's choice grounder by Shaw to make it 6-4. Bo Bichette answered with a 411-foot homer to left center to cut it to 6-5, and for a moment the Mets had a pulse. They wouldn't get another. In the eighth, a throwing error by first baseman Vientos allowed Ramirez to score and pushed the lead to 7-5 — a costly mistake that looks, in hindsight, like the moment New York's last realistic hope evaporated. The ninth was pure Cubs: Ramirez singled to right to score Hoerner, then Swanson singled to left to plate both Kelly and Ramirez, capping the scoring at 10-5.

Shota Imanaga gave Chicago 5.1 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts — workmanlike, not dominant, but enough to keep the Cubs in position to win. On the New York side, Sean Manaea was roughed up for 6 hits and 3 earned runs over just 3 innings, which appears to be a microcosm of a Mets rotation that has been in flux all season. The news that Kodai Senga has been moved to the bullpen only adds to the sense that New York's pitching infrastructure is being reshuffled on the fly. For Chicago, this win came despite the Cubs placing both Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, thinning a rotation that was already managing attrition. Ramirez and Swanson carrying the offense this heavily will need to become a habit if the Cubs are going to absorb those losses without slipping.