NEW YORK — The Cubs continued to play the spoiler role on Wednesday night at Citi Field. They scored six runs in the first inning and cruised to a 6-3 win over the Mets to complete a three-game sweep.
“That was an awesome series for the Cubs,” said left-hander Drew Smyly, who won his seventh game of the season. “Everyone played well. It shows how much young talent that we have — a lot of guys that are capable. At this point of our season, it’s about showing how consistent we can be.”
By beating the Mets, the Cubs helped the Braves — who lost to the Giants earlier in the day — remain just a half-game behind the first-place Mets in the National League East.
“I feel like we played good teams really well,” Cubs catcher Yan Gomes said. “… This time, we just came in here and we know we are a good ballclub. We can compete with anybody and we are starting to show it.”
Throughout the three-game series, the Cubs produced clutch hits, most recently in the first inning on Wednesday. They forced two Mets pitchers — starter David Peterson and Trevor Williams — to throw a combined 45 pitches that inning.
Peterson had a tough time throwing strikes. The first three hitters he faced walked to load the bases. After Patrick Wisdom struck out, Gomes doubled to right field, scoring Christopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
P.J. Higgins followed and sent Framil Reyes and Gomes home by lacing a double that landed on the right-field line. Michael Hermosillo and Nelson Velázquez followed with run-scoring hits of their own to cap the six-run inning.
“Patience is the first thing [that comes to mind],” Cubs manager David Ross said about the first inning. “We start with three walks and [Peterson] had a lot of 3-2 counts. Guys were committed to their approach. … That was kind of the game. The Mets bring in Trevor. We added a couple of more. We did a nice job staying inside some baseballs. Some balls fell for us.”
The Cubs’ pitching was just as good as it was the previous two nights. This time, it was Smyly’s turn on the mound and, like Javier Assad and Adrian Sampson before him, Smyly confused New York with his fastball and breaking pitches.
Smyly went five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk while striking out five batters. The earned run he gave up came on a home run by Tomás Nido in the third inning.
“I feel like Drew Smyly has been doing that all year,” Gomes said. “He keeps us in…
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