NEW YORK — Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and left fielder Seiya Suzuki sped toward the wall at Citi Field, trying to chase down a sharp fly ball hit between them by the Mets’ Luis Torrens in the second inning Sunday.
Crow-Armstrong got there first, jumping into the padding and missing the ball by inches.
‘‘I should have made a play on the triple,’’ Crow-Armstrong said after the Cubs’ 6-2 loss to the Mets.
If he could go back, what would he have done differently?
‘‘Catch the ball,’’ Crow-Armstrong said.
Easier said than done. Crow-Armstrong traveled 115 feet to get there, according to Statcast. And he had a wall to contend with.
Torrens’ RBI triple gave the Mets their first run of the game. Then in the sixth, Crow-Armstrong tied the score with a towering home run to the second deck in right field.
‘‘It was nice to do in the situation, but [that’s] about it,’’ Crow-Armstrong said.
He dismissed the significance of his first homer against the Mets, who drafted him in 2020 and dealt him to the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2021 for shortstop Javy Baez, right-hander Trevor Williams and cash.
After some back-and-forth Sunday, including a tying RBI double by second baseman Nico Hoerner in the seventh, the Mets seized control of the game with a four-run eighth.
‘‘Tough to win games getting three hits,’’ manager Craig Counsell said.
Praise for Amaya
In the Cubs’ 6-5 victory Saturday, catcher Miguel Amaya not only guided right-hander Cade Horton through his major-league debut, but he also called the game for six pitchers in what was a modified bullpen day. And he did all of that against the Mets, who have a top-five offense in terms of fWAR.
‘‘It’s just a lot of decisions,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘If you think about three hours of that game, the number of decisions and the mental drain on that, that’s significant, right? And you feel like they’re important decisions — the pitch-call and [things such as], ‘How do I get this guy back on track? How do I get into the zone? All right, I’ve got a new guy.’
‘‘You’ve got to be sharp and you’ve got to be locked in and you’ve got to be ready to move on when one doesn’t work for the next decision. I thought Miguel did a really good job at that.’’
Counsell was especially complimentary about how Amaya helped right-hander Daniel Palencia navigate the seventh inning.
Palencia allowed a one-out single, then walked Francisco Lindor. But he dug in to strike out Juan Soto and get Pete Alonso to ground into a force.
Happ update
Left fielder Ian Happ was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game after feeling discomfort in his oblique on a swing in the first inning Friday.
He was scheduled for a full slate of pregame work, including playing catch, agility and hitting.
‘‘If he’s hitting today, that’s a good sign,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘We’ll just evaluate what the day produces.’’