Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (4/17/26): Cubs 12, Mets 4 – Offense Continues to Roll in Third Straight Win

The Cubs continued to roll offensively at Wrigley Field Friday afternoon with another double-digit outburst. They scored 12 on the visiting Mets to win their third consecutive game for the first time this season.

Chicago got things going immediately against Kodai Senga, putting up four in the opening inning. Seiya Suzuki had a bloop RBI single, then Moisés Ballesteros hit an opposite-field three-run homer to make it 4-0.

New York rallied back off starter Edward Cabrera in the top of the 2nd inning. Marcus Semien had an RBI double and Tyrone Taylor added a two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-3. Cabrera settled in after that and did not give up anything else the rest of his outing.

Nico Hoerner stayed absolutely red-hot with a two-run homer off of Senga in the bottom of the frame to give the North Siders a 6-3 advantage. An error, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, and a double by Matt Shaw increased the margin to 10-3 in the 7th.

The Mets got one of them back against Jacob Webb in the top of the 8th, but Ian Happ blasted a two-run homer in the bottom half and the Cubs were victorious 12-4. (Box score)

Key Moment

All of Chicago’s 1st-inning runs came with two outs, and they never trailed after that.

Why the Cubs Won

The lineup went off again, making a decent starting pitching effort more than enough for the win.

Stats That Matter

• Cabrera did not have his best stuff, but it was plenty: 6 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 4 K, and 2 BB.
• Ballesteros had two more hits and is already very dangerous in the middle of the lineup.
• Three more hits for Hoerner, who is really starting to tap into his power.

Bottom Line

With the bullpen currently beset by injuries, the Cubs are going to need to score runs to win games. The past five contests demonstrate they are very capable of doing that, even if one of those didn’t go in their favor. If they maintain even part of that production, they should be able to survive the current injury wave in pretty good shape.

On Deck

Game two of the series is Saturday afternoon at 1:20pm CT. Jameson Taillon goes up against Freddy Peralta in a matchup broadcast on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.