When a baseball team isn’t as talented as another baseball team, there is no margin for error in close games.
The Cubs actually played the Mets quite closely in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, but then... there’s that margin for error thing, which specifically raised its ugly head in the 10th inning of Game 2.
First, Mychal Givens loaded the bases with the placed runner, an infield single, then an intentional walk after a stolen base. He followed that by hitting Pete Alonso — on an 0-2 pitch! forcing in a run. He did induce a 1-2-3 double play ball, but then Daniel Norris was summoned, because apparently it’s now illegal to have a righthanded pitcher face a lefthanded batter (Luis Guillorme had been announced as a pinch-hitter).