Maybe the Mets really don’t need Francisco Lindor in the lineup. Of course, that’s the farthest thing from the truth, but the past two nights have shown they have the ability to hold the fort until he gets back.
Pete Alonso, who has not had a season that meets his standards in his walk year, had three hits and drove in five as the Mets routed the Nationals 10-1 before 24,932 at Citifield last night.
“We’ve been saying it that guys will have to step up while Lindor is down and Pete is one of those guys,” Manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You guys [have] seen it before, I’ve seen it before, I’ve seen it where he can carry a team and today for him to go out there and have that type of game, he’s that type of player, he’s that type of hitter where he can carry a team.”
The Braves lost to the Reds so the Mets now have a two game lead over Atlanta for the third NL Wild Card spot with 11 games left. Arizona also lost, so the Mets are now tied with the Diamondbacks for the second spot. If they finish in a tie with Arizona, they have the tiebreaker advantage having won the season series, 4-3.
Coming into the game, the Mets had scored 7 runs in their last 27 innings, but they found the offensive formula against five Nationals pitchers.
Alonso had a two run single, a double and a three run homer as he keyed a 14-hit attack on a night the Mets broke out the sticks that have been missing in recent games
Jose Iglesias and Luisangel Acuna also had three hits apiece. The promising rookie shortstop also smacked his first Major League home run, while Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor also had multi hit games.
The Mets’ starting rotation has been superb in September and that continued with Tylor Megill. The right hander pitched six innings and allowed just an unearned run in picking up the win. In three starts this month, Megill is 1-0 with a 1.68 ERA while Mets starters overall in September are 6-1 with a 1.90 ERA.
“[Paul] Blackburn goes down and he [Megill] takes the ball and he continues to give us a chance to win baseball games,” said Mendoza.
“We’re right there, got to keep playing the way we are right now,” Megill said. “Job every time to go out and compete and just give the team the best chance to win that night.”
In the third, the Nationals took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run without a hit.
After Megill walked Jacob Young to lead off the inning, C.J. Abrams grounded to third. Mark Vientos threw to Acuna covering second but it was a bit low and was muffed by the Mets shortstop as Young went to third.
James Wood forced Abrams at second as Young scored but the Mets answered with four runs in their half of the third.
Harrison Bader got things started with a lead off walk off of Nationals starter and loser Mitchell Parker. Acuna atoned for his mistake when he lined a double into the gap in left center field to score Bader and tie the game at one.
Iglesias reached on an infield single to extend his hitting streak to 11 straight games and send Acuna to third. After Starling Marte walked to load the bases, Alonso blooped a single down the right field line to score two and give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Vientos hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field that scored Marte from third as the Mets took a 4-1 lead after three.
In the fourth, Francisco Alvarez jumped on a 1-1 pitch from Parker and drove it into the left field stands for his 9th home run of the season and a 5-1 lead.
Taylor had an RBI double in the sixth and the Mets used two more long balls to pile on against the Nationals.
In the sixth, Alonso clubbed a three-run homer, his 33rd on an 0-2 pitch from Nationals reliever Zach Brzykcy to make it a 9-1 game. The Mets first baseman has quietly put together a modest five game hitting streak where he is 9 for 20 with two home runs and six RBIs.
The 22-year-old Acuna showed off his power stroke when he smacked a solo home run into the left field stands off of Nationals pitcher Joe La Sorsa in the eighth to cap off the scoring.
Acuna has opened some eyes while he is filling in for Lindor. “He’s calm, poised, he’s like he belongs in the big leagues,” Mendoza said.
The Mets are saying they’re not scoreboard watching but the fans certainly are. In the top of the 7th, the crowd came alive when the scoreboard posted that the Reds had taken a 6-5 lead over the Braves. “I thought someone was just getting rowdy like chugging beers or something like that,” Alonso said.
11 games to go and the Mets control their own destiny.
I’m just really fired up because [of] the situation we’ve put ourselves in,” Alonso said. “Not a lot of people would necessarily see us in this position like probably four or five months ago.”