Mets score in 1st in 3rd straight NLCS game

CHICAGO -- The Cubs never held a lead in the first two games of the National League Championship Series, and the Mets ensured they'd be playing from behind from the get-go in Game 3 by plating another first-inning run. The Mets won, 5-2, to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS.

The Mets, who came into Tuesday's game at Wrigley Field with a 2-0 lead in the NLCS, have now scored in the opening frame in all three NLCS games. It wasn't Daniel Murphy with the long ball on Tuesday, but rather a two-out RBI double by Yoenis Cespedes that put New York in front this time.

David Wright, who singled with one out and was running on the play, scored without a throw as Cespedes drove a ball into the left-center gap. The RBI was Cespedes' sixth of the postseason; he has now hit safely in 15 of his 18 career postseason games.

The Mets may have done even more damage had Curtis Granderson, who reached on an error to open the game, not been thrown out trying to steal second with Wright at the plate.

Murphy, who had knocked first-inning home runs in the first two games, struck out in this first-inning at-bat against Kyle Hendricks. Kyle Schwarber hit a home run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1.

Dating back to their NL Division Series matchup against the Dodgers, the Mets have scored a first-inning run in four consecutive games.