(Sports Network) - Ryan Dempster pitched seven strong innings and the Cubs capitalized on some shoddy New York fielding to pound the Mets, 11-1, at Wrigley Field.
Starlin Castro had three hits and drove in two for the Cubs, who also got a pair of RBI from Darwin Barney and Carlos Zambrano.
Dempster (3-4) allowed seven hits and fanned five to move his career mark to 10-5 against the Mets.
New York faltered in the opener of this three-game series by allowing five unearned runs. Jon Niese (3-5) yielded seven hits and six runs, but just two earned, over five frames.
The Mets lost their third in a row and have surrendered 27 runs in that span.
Lou Montanez, in his first game with the Cubs, doubled to right field to score Aramis Ramirez to start a five-run second inning. Mets catcher Ronny Paulino then committed the first of his two errors on the night when the ball popped out of his glove on a throw home from first baseman Daniel Murphy. That came off a ground ball from Koyie Hill.
Following Dempster's sacrifice bunt and a Reed Johnson walk, Barney singled in Montanez to keep the bases full. Castro then singled in two more runs to cap the outburst.
A Jose Reyes infield single scored Ruben Tejada in the top of the fifth, but Castro's RBI triple down to the right field corner in the bottom half made it 6-1.
The Cubs caught a break in the sixth. Johnson struck out with runners at first and second, but Paulino's snap throw to first to try for a double play sailed down the right field line. That allowed Hill to come home.
Chicago tacked on four runs in the seventh to account for the 10-run margin. Pat Misch walked Hill with the bases full. Zambrano, serving as a pinch- hitter, then broke his bat on a single up the middle, off the glove of second baseman Tejada to score two more. Johnson's single to left made it 11-1. Mets left fielder Fernando Martinez booted the ball, but the Cubs left two runners in scoring position when Barney struck out.