New York @ Chicago preview

NY Mets at Chi. Cubs

Last Meeting ( Aug 27, 2018 ) NY Mets 4, Chi. Cubs 7

Less than a week removed from an alarming offensive outage, the Chicago Cubs are playing arguably their best baseball of the season. The Cubs will aim for a season-high seventh consecutive victory when they continue a three-game series against the visiting New York Mets on Tuesday.

The Cubs improved to 5-0 against the Mets this season with a 7-4 win Monday – their 13th in their last 14 home games against New York — to increase their National League Central lead to 4 1/2 games over St. Louis. After five straight games scoring a single run, Chicago has put up 44 runs during its six-game winning streak. One of the offensive leaders during that stretch has been former Met Daniel Murphy, who is 11-for-27 with five multi-hit games in his first six contests since joining the Cubs and has at least one hit and one run in every game since joining the club. The Mets are trying to avoid their first series loss since dropping three of four to Atlanta from Aug. 2-5.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), WGN (Chicago)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Jacob deGrom (8-8, 1.71 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Cole Hamels (9-9, 3.82)

The lack of run support that has plagued deGrom all season cropped up again last time out, as he found himself on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss. The 30-year-old allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings in the loss to San Francisco, and he struck out 10 – his fifth straight start with at least nine strikeouts. In six career starts against the Cubs, deGrom is 2-2 with a 3.47 ERA.

Hamels has been nothing short of dominant since joining the Cubs, going 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA in five starts. The 34-year-old is coming off a complete-game win against Cincinnati in which he allowed one run and eight hits with seven strikeouts. Hamels is 9-14 with a 3.99 ERA in 32 career starts against the Mets.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Cubs have homered in 12 consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 5-18, 2006.

2. Mets SS Amed Rosario has recorded multiple hits in two of his past three games and has 10 stolen bases since the All-Star break.

3. Cubs INF Javier Baez is 15-for-36 with six multi-hit games during an eight-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Cubs 3, Mets 2