Cubs' Ian Happ out of lineup vs. Mets; Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off

NEW YORK – At the top of the lineup Saturday against the Mets, Pete Crow-Armstrong impacted the game right away.

The Cubs’ usual leadoff hitter, Ian Happ, was out of the lineup Saturday. He’d felt some discomfort in his oblique on a swing in his first at-bat Friday, manager Craig Counsell said. Happ remained in the game but checked in with athletic trainers that night.

“Just being cautious and giving him a day,” Counsell said.

He described Happ as “day-to-day” and said the team was not considering putting him on the injured list.

With Happ out, Seiya Suzuki started in left field and Crow-Armstrong led off.

Crow-Armstrong lined the second pitch he saw into center field. Then he stole second base. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez rushed his throw, and it went into the outfield. Crow-Armstrong took third on the error.

The sequence set Crow-Armstrong to score easily when Suzuki hit a sharp ground ball off the mound and into center field.

Keller opens

Instead of having Cade Horton start Saturday in his major-league debut, Counsell went with an opener.

“With their lineup, you try to give those hitters different looks,” Counsell said of the top of the Mets’ batting order. “I think that's important to do. And so this might be one way to accomplish that.”

Right-hander Brad Keller was the first Cubs pitcher to face the Mets' fearsome trio of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso on Saturday. He struck out Lindor and Alonso and induced Soto to fly out to center field. Then he handed over the ball for Horton to take over in the second.

“Brad Keller is going to have to get those hitters out,” Counsell said before the game. “That's a hard job. It's a hard job for whoever has to do it. They're going to hit four to five times a game.”

Kelly ‘good’ after being hit on hand

Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said his right hand felt “good” Saturday, after being hit on the fingers while swinging through a pitch in the fourth inning the night before. He finished the game.

“Was fine throwing, was fine the rest of the game,” he said in a conversation with the Sun-Times Saturday. “So that gave me confidence that it was gonna be okay today.”

Kelly, who in his career has broken his hand and his forearm, has been hit on both hands this season.

“I would say I'm pretty fortunate, actually, to get hit in the hand twice and – knock on wood – no breaks,” he said.

Roster move

The Cubs officially selected Horton’s contract from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday. To clear room for him on the active and 40-man rosters, they optioned left-handed reliever Tom Cosgrove to Triple-A Iowa and transferred right-handed reliever Eli Morgan (right elbow neuritis) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day.

Morgan is still shut down from throwing, Counsell said. He’d been on the IL for three and a half weeks.