QUEENS, NY — Pete Alonso went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI and Luisangel Acuna collected his first-career MLB homer and RBIs as the New York Mets expanded their lead for the third and final National League Wild Card spot with a 10-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Reeling off a four-run fourth inning sparked by Acuna’s first-career major-league RBI, a double, to wake up what had been a dormant offense, the Mets’ (83-68) second straight win ensured that they now sit two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, who lost to the Cincinnati Reds earlier on Tuesday night, for that final postseason berth up for grabs.
“We heard the crowd even before the game was over,” manager Carlos Mendoza said as the news trickled down that the Braves lost. “They were making noise and we didn’t know what was going on until somebody said [the Reds] took the lead. So I was like, ‘OK, we got to take care of business here.”
“It’s super exciting,” Alonso added. “We control our own destiny. That’s what we want to do. We want to win as many ballgames as we can.”
While Acuna went 3-for-4 with two RBI, three runs scored, and was a triple shy of the a cycle, Francisco Alvarez launched his ninth home run of the season to support Tylor Megill, who overcame a difficult third inning to go six frames, allowing one run (zero earned) on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
“After the third I settled back in, got some runs support, and then just kept firing it in there,” Megill said. “Getting ahead of the hitters and getting the ball in play.”
It was the sixth consecutive game a Mets starter went at least six innings, providing invaluable rest time for a bullpen that is on the precipice of some high-leverage innings with 11 games left in the regular season. Over his last four starts, he has a 1.69 ERA.
“Starting pitching, we’ve been doing really well,” Megill said. “We’re happy for each other’s success. When it comes down to it, being there for each other… we just keep the things right.”
That laborious third inning for Megill resulted in the Nationals scratching out the game’s first run, though it was unearned on the starter’s ledger.
After walking the No. 9 hitter, Jacob Young, to lead off the inning, Megill got a double-play grounder from CJ Abrams, but Acuna missed Mark Vientos’ throw from third, resulting in both runners being safe while allowing Young to move up to third. He scored on a James Wood fielder’s choice.
“That’s the first time that happened to me,” Acuna said. “I just kind of got past the bag and I was trying to make it to the bag, but that’s just part of the game.”
Acuna made up for the error in the bottom half of the inning when he ripped a double into the left-center-field gap to score Harrison Bader from first after he led things off with a walk. It was his first career RBI in the majors on just his third hit and first extra-base hit.
With the bases loaded, Alonso dinked a blooper beyond first baseman Joey Gallo in short right field to plate a pair and put the Mets up a pair.
“I feel really good,” Alonso said. “I just want to continue to have quality at-bats and do whatever I can on both sides of the ball and on the base paths to help the team.”
Mark Vientos’ sacrifice fly made it four runs in the third — one more than their total output across their previous two games — to go up 4-1.
Alvarez made it 5-1 with a lead-off home run in the fourth inning — a 109.6 mph laser that prompted Nationals left fielder James Wood to remain rooted to his spot to watch it go. The Mets catcher’s ninth home run of the season was also his third in the last six games. He had hit three in his previous 56 appearances before this stretch.
Nationals starter Mitchell Parker did not make it out of the fourth inning. After an infield single by Jose Iglesias — his third in his last four at-bats — he was yanked, finishing his night with five runs on seven hits with two walks and one strikeout in 3.2 innings of work.
With a healthy lead, Megill bounced back brilliantly to eat up a few more innings despite ending that difficult third inning at 60 pitches. He retired the Nationals in succession in the fourth and fifth innings while needing just 21 pitches to do so, putting him at 81 through five.
A pair of doubles off Washington reliever Eduardo Salazar by Alonso and Tyrone Taylor in the fifth inning put the Mets up 6-1.
Alonso put the exclamation point on the Mets’ big night with a towering three-run home run over the left-field fence for his 33rd of the season, driving in Acuna and Iglesias, who both singled.
In the eighth inning off or La Sorsa, Acuna launched his first-career home run — lining an 0-1 sinker 414 feet into the left-center-field seats.
“I’m excited,” Acuna said through an interpreter. “I’m proud of myself.”
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