![\"Column:](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagotribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-cubs-mets038.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")
Obliques typically take longer than two weeks to heal, but neither Counsell nor Palencia appeared too grim over the news. Counsell said he wasn\u2019t sure of how he\u2019d handle the bullpen in Palencia\u2019s absence, but counting on his starters to last longer is not in his plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a mistake to do that,\u201d the manager said, suggesting he might let starters face an extra hitter, perhaps. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep those guys healthy as well, and at the end of a starter\u2019s outing they\u2019re fatigued, and we\u2019ve got to make sure we do the right thing by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cabrera wasn\u2019t particularly sharp on Friday, but made pitches when he had to while pitching with a lead. Ballesteros\u2019s three-run, opposite-field home run off Kodai Senga capped a four-run first inning, and after the Mets crept to within one, Hoerner\u2019s two-run shot in the second made it 6-3. The Cubs kept adding on and Cabrera survived being hit by a hot drive up the middle in the fifth to improve to 2-0.<\/p>\n
The Hoerner saga continues to open eyes around baseball, and he seems well on his way to becoming an All-Star for the first time. He\u2019s hitting .342 after going 3-for-5 with a two-run home run, and has driven in 10 runs over his last three games, giving him three home runs and 20 RBI in 19 games. Last year Hoerner didn\u2019t hit his third home run until June 28, and his career high in RBI was 68, set back in 2023. Hoerner has been doing most of his damage from the leadoff spot, where he has 18 RBI in 13 games.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not surprising to see him perform at a high level, but being a run producer has added another element to his arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been excellent, and just becoming a better version of himself is the best way I\u2019d describe it,\u201d Counsell said.<\/p>\n
Hoerner also beat out an infield hit on a chopper that announcer Pat Hughes called a \u201ckangaroo bounce,\u201d and made a spectacular diving play in the fifth to rob Bo Bichette of a hit. Day by day, he\u2019s looking more and more like Ryne Sandberg\u2019s doppelganger both in the field and at the plate, making his six-year, $141 million extension look like a bargain.<\/p>\n On the flip side, the Mets dropped their ninth straight, the team\u2019s longest losing streak since an 11-game streak late in the 2004 season, proving that a $381 million payroll doesn\u2019t buy happiness or wins.<\/p>\n With slugger Juan Soto on the IL and Bichette\u2019s three-year, $126 million deal trending into the worst free agent signing of the offseason, Mets owner Steve Cohen can only pray that the early-season slump is a blip, and the hitting will rebound when Soto returns.<\/p>\n If not, the Mets are like a Rolls-Royce without an engine \u2014 it looks good in the driveway but can\u2019t run a lick. Mets president David Stearns, who was Counsell\u2019s boss in Milwaukee when the Brewers did more with less, is now doing less with more.<\/p>\n Photos: Chicago Cubs 12, New York Mets 4<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cMy sense is our team has jelled pretty well,\u201d Stearns told reporters before the game. \u201cI think it was a focus of spring training. I think these guys spent a lot of time together in spring training. Part of being a good team through a six-seven month stretch is finding your identity through adversity, and we\u2019re facing adversity right now, surely at an earlier stage than any of us expected or wanted. But this has an opportunity to be part of our story, help us find our identity, come through this and understand we have the ability to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n No one will shed a tear for Cohen, the wealthiest owner in MLB who paid a record $2.4 billion for the Mets in 2020. That record was broken Friday by Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, who reportedly agreed to purchase the San Diego Padres for $3.9 billion.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to imagine MLB owners will lock out players after the season over the lack of a salary cap when franchise values are zooming, but no one said it made any sense.<\/p>\n The Cubs need to capitalize on the Mets\u2019 struggles the way they did against the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 pitching on Tuesday and Wednesday. It\u2019s what good teams do, and despite their injuries and early malaise, the Cubs still consider themselves the team to beat in the National League Central.<\/p>\n On Saturday they\u2019ll face former Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, whom Cubs fans taunted during Game 4 of the National League Division Series last October at Wrigley, chanting \u201cFreeeeee-dee\u201d from the first inning on. He might not need a reminder, but who knows?<\/p>\n Either way, the ivy is starting to bloom on the outfield wall, igniting dreams of summer days in Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The easiest way for the Chicago Cubs to get through what could be a long stretch without closer Daniel Palencia is to put up enough runs to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":177764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Column:](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagotribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-cubs-mets035.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")
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