The New York Mets are back inside the wild card picture in the National League following a huge 9-7 win against the Chicago Cubs Tuesday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago. With the Cincinnati Reds losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2, on the same night, New York managed to slide back into the third and final wild card spot in the NL.

The Mets are still not out of the woods, but thanks to the strong performances of Francisco Alvarez and Edwin Diaz, New York came away with an important win in a series opener versus the Cubs. New York's magic number to secure a spot in the 2025 MLB postseason is now five.

Alvarez went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the Cubs game, as he played a prominent role in New York's come-from-behind victory. The Mets scored five times, including one from Alvarez, in the fifth inning to erase Chicago's five-run lead. New York grabbed the lead in the sixth inning after Francisco Lindor's single drove Jeff McNeil home. Seiya Suzuki answered with a single RBI of his own in the bottom of the sixth frame to level the score at 1-1. Alvarez, however, later put the Mets in front with a towering 403-foot two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning off Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar.

Article Continues Below

The eighth inning ended on a Lindor foul out, but not without the Mets doing so much damage to the Cubs with that blast from Alvarez. Neither team scored the rest of the way, with Edwin Diaz taking over the show for New York.

Diaz pitched two scoreless innings, allowing zero hits and no free passes to first base while striking out five Chicago hitters in a scintillating display of clutch genes on the mound. Diaz earned the save, his 27th of the season, while Brooks Raley got the pitching win for the Mets, who improved to 81-76, one game ahead of the Reds.

The Mets have two more games left in the Chicago series before playing the Miami Marlins in a three-game set at LoanDepot Park in Miami that will start this coming Friday.