Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon good baseball teams find ways to win. Slowly, Maddon is watching his team move in that direction.
Chris Coghlan drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cubs a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night.
The Cubs, who have won three straight, scored twice in the final two innings after being shut out for seven innings by Mets ace Matt Harvey.
"When you’re able to win games late on a consistent basis, it becomes part of the fabric," Maddon said. ""It’s important to feel that way. You’re going to have to win games like that."
Harvey pitched well enough to win, allowing only three hits and struck out nine. Mets reliever Carlos Torres (1-2), however, couldn’t close the deal.
Torres gave up back-to-back hits to Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro to start the ninth inning before intentionally walking Miguel Montero. Mets manager Terry Collins brought in closer Jeurys Familia with the bases loaded. After striking out Jorge Soler, Familia walked Coghlan to give the Cubs the win.
"In those situations, you really have to control your emotions," Coghlan said. "Everybody wants to be the guy to drive in the winning run so that’s the biggest deal is to be able to control your emotions.
"He really didn’t give me anything to hit and so I took my walk."
Hector Rondon (2-0) earned the win for the Cubs after pitching a scoreless ninth.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Torres surrendered a game-tying RBI single to Dexter Fowler in the eighth, allowing the Cubs to draw even after being held in check by Harvey.
Cubs starter Jason Hammel allowed only two hits until the fifth inning when the Mets broke a scoreless tie. A single by Curtis Granderson and a Daniel Murphy double in the sixth inning gave the Mets runners on second and third. Michael Cuddyer grounded out to score Granderson before Hammel pitched out of trouble to limit the damage to one run.
As good as Harvey was, the Mets bullpen faltered and New York lost for the third straight time after coming to Chicago having won four of five games.
"Obviously, everybody wanted to win that game," Harvey said. "After the last couple of weeks, we really needed that.
"We’re in a little bit of a rut right now, but obviously everybody goes through that. Tomorrow’s the first day to come out of it."
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: Center fielder Juan Lagares was held out of the line-up for a second straight game with a slight strain on his upper right side. Manager Terry Collins said the club needs to make sure the issue goes away before the issue forces him out of the line-up for a longer period. . Right-handed pitcher Buddy Carlyle will be placed on the disabled list on Thursday after injuring his back on Monday night while covering a throw to first base. The Mets will call left-handed reliever Jack Leathersich up from Triple-A to fill the roster spot.
Cubs: Infielder Tommy La Stella is playing in extended spring training games in Arizona while he continues to deal with inflammation in his right rib cage. There is no timetable for his return.
UP NEXT
Mets: Jon Niese (3-2, 1.95) is 3-4 all-time against the Cubs and will be looking for his third win in his last four outings after giving up a total of three earned runs in his last three starts.
Cubs: Travis Wood (2-2, 4.96) is looking for his first win in May after taking back-to-back losses against the Brewers and Cardinals in which he gave up 10 earned runs and three home runs, matching his total in his first four starts.
