Mets Rally, Hold off Cubs 4-3 to Stop Skid

Yoenis Cespedes socked a colossal home run, Jeurys Familia pitched out of a huge jam in the ninth inning and rookie replacement Brandon Nimmo keyed a three-run rally in the seventh that sent the New York Mets past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Thursday night in their first meeting since last year's NL Championship Series.

Chicago put runners on second and third with no outs against Familia, who got two strikeouts and a bases-loaded popup for his 27th save, most in the majors. He screamed and pumped his arms repeatedly after Javier Baez popped up to end it.

Baez's throwing error at second base allowed Nimmo to score the go-ahead run, and the Mets overcame a 3-0 deficit to stop their four-game slide. New York, which swept Chicago last October to reach the World Series, had lost nine straight regular-season games to the Cubs dating to August 2014.