NEW YORK -- Four games, all Mets. Same story, summer or fall.
Wilmer Flores went 6 for 6 with two of New York's five home runs, and the Mets capped a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs by battering Jon Lester in a 14-3 blowout Sunday.
Curtis Granderson hit a home run immediately in his return to the starting lineup, and New York also got homers from Rene Rivera and pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson while setting season highs for runs and hits (22) in support of Noah Syndergaard (9-3).
"Coming into these four games, I think the guys knew that they had a huge challenge ahead of them, and I think they picked up their game," Mets Manager Terry Collins said.
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.
After sweeping four games against Chicago in the National League 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," Cubs 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."
Maddon began pulling starters in the sixth as his major league-best squad (51-30) lost for the 10th time in 14 games and finished 4-7 on its longest road trip of the season.
By the seventh, catcher Miguel Montero was on the mound to save the bullpen, throwing pitches that mostly ranged from 79-84 mph. He yielded 1 run and 4 hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Flores drove in four runs, scored three and raised his batting average from .224 to .255. The fan favorite received two standing ovations, and the crowd of 36,137 chanted his name.
The huge game couldn't have come at a better time for Flores, with Jose Reyes playing third base in the minors and getting ready to rejoin the Mets. When he does, Reyes is expected to take a sizable chunk of Flores' playing time.
"I don't think players are naive," Collins said.
Filling in at third since captain David Wright was injured in late May, Flores entered Sunday in an 0-for-14 slump before joining Edgardo Alfonzo as the only Mets players with six hits in a game.
Alfonzo, who accomplished the feat in August 1999 at Houston, reached out to Flores through the team to congratulate him, club spokesman Jay Horwitz said.
"Pretty good feeling," Flores said. "I never thought I was going to get six hits, ever."
New York's previous four-game sweep of the Cubs during the regular season came in June 1985 at Shea Stadium.
NATIONALS 12, REDS 1 Stephen Strasburg was removed from a no-hit bid after 6 2/3 innings, and Ramon Cabrera singled against Matt Belisle leading off the eighth for Cincinnati's first hit in host Washington's rout. Activated from the disabled list before the game after missing two starts due to an upper back strain, Strasburg (11-0) threw 109 pitches, five shy of his season high.
CARDINALS 9, BREWERS 8 Stephen Piscotty's second grand slam of the season propelled host St. Louis to a rain-interrupted weekend sweep. Brandon Moss had a go-ahead double in a two-run fifth, and rookie Aledmys Diaz hit his 11th home run.
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 1 Back from Tommy John surgery, Brandon McCarthy (1-0) allowed 2 singles over 5 scoreless innings and struck out8eight in his first start in 14 months for host Los Angeles.
GIANTS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4 (11) Pinch-hitter Ramiro Pena hit a tiebreaking double off Enrique Burgos (0-1) in the 11th for the visiting Giants after Jarrett Parker's leadoff walk. Josh Osich (1-1) pitched a scoreless 10th, and Santiago Casilla got his 19th save, stranding the potential tying run at third.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 17, INDIANS 1 Troy Tulowitzki had three hits on his bobblehead day, including a three-run home run, and Russell Martin homered and drove in five runs for host Toronto. Toronto scored its most runs since beating Tampa Bay 17-11 on Aug. 7, 2010, and the Blue Jays matched their season high with 18 hits.
RED SOX 10, ANGELS 5 Hanley Ramirez and Sandy Leon hit two-run doubles as host Boston scored seven runs with two outs in the fifth. A day after Boston lost 21-2 and allowed 22 hits, Sean O'Sullivan (2-0) held the Angels scoreless into the sixth and allowed 2 runs and 4 hits in 5 innings.
TIGERS 5, RAYS 1 Justin Upton snapped an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double, Ian Kinsler added his 200th home run and visiting Detroit won its sixth consecutive. Bruce Rondon (2-0) retired the only two batters he faced, bailing starter Mike Pelfrey out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to get the victory.
TWINS 5, RANGERS 4 Cole Hamels (9-2) was knocked out in the fifth inning of his shortest start this season and lost for the first time since May 27 as host Minnesota beat first-place Texas for the second consecutive day. Hamels allowed 5 runs and 10 hits while walking 3, leaving after walking his first two batters in the fifth.
WHITE SOX 4, ASTROS 1 Jose Quintana (6-8) allowed one run and two hits -- including George Springer's home run -- in seven innings for his first victory since May 8 for the visiting White Sox. He had been 0-7 with a 4.58 ERA in his last 9 starts.
MARINERS 9, ORIOLES 4 Seth Smith hit his first career grand slam, homering for the fourth consecutive game as host Seattle completed a four-game sweep of the AL East leaders in which the Mariners had 31 runs and 47 hits, including 23 for extra bases. Hisashi Iwakuma (8-6) allowed four runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 7, ROYALS 2 Cameron Rupp hit a three-run home run, Vince Velasquez (7-2) allowed two runs and five hits for host Philadelphia. Cody Asche and Maikel Franco also went deep to help the Phillies win two of three against the defending World Series champions.
YANKEES 6, PADRES 3 Mark Teixeira hit his 400th and 401st home runs, Didi Gregorius also connected and Chad Green got his first big league victory as visiting New York avoided a three-game sweep. Green (1-1), a 25-year-old right-hander, held San Diego to 1 run and 3 hits in 6 innings, struck out 8 and walked none.
PIRATES 6, ATHLETICS 3 Adam Frazier tripled in the tying run against Daniel Mengden (1-4) in the sixth, then scored on Erik Kratz's infield single for the visiting Pirates. David Friese hit a two-run home run and Gregory Polanco added two RBI as the Pirates completed the three-game sweep in their first visit to the Oakland Coliseum since 2010.
Welington Castillo grounded out and pinch-hitter Peter O'Brien struck out.
Sports on 07/04/2016