CHICAGO — The Mets’ 8-0 win over the Cubs on Thursday night ended almost as soon as it started, with the visitors jumping out to a one-run lead within minutes and building a four-run advantage within an inning and a half in the series opener at Wrigley Field. The game never felt as close as the scoreboard briefly suggested.
In the middle of the early action was a guy who begrudgingly had seen no action at all recently: Starling Marte. He smoked a single and scored a run in the first inning and smoked another single to drive in a run in the second. His night wasn’t perfect — he bobbled a ball in rightfield and struck out on a changeup well out of the zone — but it was nonetheless a striking return to the field and an immediate return to form after he missed the previous four days because of a minor left groin injury.
Marte despised sitting, he said this week, using some choice words to sort of playfully, sort of not describe his attitude toward being sidelined. He even lobbied to get back into the lineup on Sunday, according to manager Buck Showalter. That was just a day after he exited a game hurt. The ever-cautious Mets held him out of that one plus the entire next series.
