Christopher Morel had been in a funk at the plate.

And after starting Monday night’s game 0-for-3, he was faced with the tall task of trying to put his team ahead in the top of the 9th against one of the nastiest pitchers in the game in Edwin Diaz.

Morel worked the count to his favor 3-1 and then deposited a 97 mph fastball over the left field wall for a go-ahead homer to give his team a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Mets in New York.

MO’ MONEY FOR THE LEAD 💰 pic.twitter.com/7AtEusjKLA

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 30, 2024

It was the first time the Cubs had won a game after being no-hit through 7 innings since May 12, 1992 at the Astros.

Morel and his lineup mates couldn’t do anything early in the game against Mets starter Luis Severino, who gave up his first hit of the ballgame on the second batter in the 8th inning.

After Michael Busch walked to start off the 8th, Dansby Swanson fisted an inside pitch into shallow center to break up the no-no. A pair of groundouts later netted the Cubs their 1st run and a tie game.

In the 9th, Mike Tauchman continued his hot-hitting ways with a 1-out double. Ian Happ followed with a strikeout, setting the stage for Morel’s heroics.

Morel entered that 9th inning at-bat hitting .116/.217/.150 in his last 16-plus games dating back to April 9 (which was also the date of his last home run).

He picked quite the time to break out of his funk.

It stopped the Cubs’ 2-game skid as they improved to 18-11 on the season. They have not lost 3 in a row at any point this year.

Starter Jameson Taillon was nearly as good as his counterpart Severino on the the New York evening.

He turned in the best outing of the season for a Cubs rotation member, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk in 7.1 innings. Taillon surrendered a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 1st and cruised after that, needing only 78 pitches to get 22 outs.

Manager Craig Counsell opted to relieve Taillon in the 8th inning with a runner on base, bringing in Mark Leiter Jr. who quickly retired the next 2 batters to escape the jam.

In the 9th, Héctor Neris walked a pair of batters but still nailed down his 4th save of the season.

Taillon has a 1.50 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 3 starts this season after missing the early part of the season while recovering from a back injury.