CHICAGO -- Noah Syndergaard did as teammate Michael Cuddyer had recommended, making mental pictures he could save from his major league debut on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
"Being on that mound, the scoreboard, just everything around that has so much history," Syndergaard said.
Syndergaard suffered the loss in his first career big league start, but he pitched far better than the final line dictated. He took a scoreless effort into the sixth inning before faltering, and the New York Mets ultimately lost to the Chicago Cubs 6-1.
"He's good. As advertised," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Great pitcher's body. Great stuff. The thing I liked about him is he's a pitcher, too. He's just not out there throwing. I was impressed.”
Said Syndergaard: "I'm not going to lie. I was really nervous up until I walked the steps of the dugout and started warming up. But from the first pitch on, I felt really good out there. I felt ready to go. My arm felt great. It's always nice to get the first strikeout out of the way the first batter of the game. After that point there, that's when the nerves started to go away."
Syndergaard surrendered a run-scoring double to Starlin Castro and two-run homer to Chris Coghlan in the sixth before departing with one out in that inning and his pitch count at 103. He was charged with three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings.
The 6-foot-6 Syndergaard's pitch count had spiked in the third inning when third baseman Daniel Murphy underestimated the speed of rookie phenom Kris Bryant on a would-be inning-ending grounder. Murphy's nonchalant throw to first base allowed Bryant to reach on an infield single. Manager Terry Collins thought Syndergaard lost focus at that point. Syndergaard walked the next two batters, but escaped by coaxing a full-count fly out to right field from Jorge Soler that left the bases loaded. Still, Syndergaard ended up throwing an extra 18 pitches in the inning because of Murphy's subpar play.
"I didn't make the play. It cost Noah some pitches, unfortunately," Murphy said. "He could have gotten way deeper in the game. I was pretty frustrated about it."
Syndergaard disagreed with any suggestion that he lost focus because he thought he should have been out of the inning. He instead maintained that he briefly got out of his delivery, with his arm dragging and the baseball becoming elevated in the strike zone.
Syndergaard added that throughout the evening he got too distracted with runners on base.
"I felt like I was real comfortable in my windup," he said. "Once runners got on base, like that home run to Coghlan, I felt my focus was kind of divided between the runner on second base and the hitter. The next thing, I leave a fastball in the heart of the plate."
Still, Syndergaard called the night "something I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life."
Said Collins: "He came up here bound and determined to show everybody he belongs here. And I think he did that."