Pete Alonso blasted two home runs and Kodai Senga delivered six strong innings as the Mets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 11-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Five things to know from Monday’s game…
1. Before a rain delay in the top of the seventh inning paused the game for more than two hours, the Mets (51-61) scratched two sixth-inning runs across to put the Cubs (58-55) away. New York loaded the bases on singles by Jeff McNeil, Danny Mendick and Rafael Ortega before Jonathan Arauz‘s walk and Brandon Nimmo‘s 5-4-3 double play brought McNeil and Mendick home.
Of the bunch, Ortega — batting eighth and starting in left field — notched a 2-for-3 evening. He earned his first multi-hit performance in six games with the Mets this season, dating back to last Tuesday’s call-up from Triple-A.
2. For good measure, Mendick — batting seventh and starting at third base over Brett Baty, whom the Mets optioned to Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day — capped a 2-for-4 game with a three-run, seventh-inning homer that cemented the 10-2 final. Mendick’s first home run of the season and fourth RBI through 17 games with New York was certainly an exclamation point.
3. The Mets commanded a 5-2 lead thanks to Alonso’s three- and two-run homers off Drew Smyly. After his first-inning fly ball to left field carried just far enough over the wall to give New York a 3-0 lead, he delivered again in the third on a right-center shot that widened a 5-1 gap.
Alonso, whose latest long ball came in this past Tuesday’s 7-6 loss at the Kansas City Royals, is up to 33 round-trippers on the season and batting .225 with 83 RBI through 104 games. His HR total is third in MLB, behind Atlanta Braves 1B Matt Olson‘s 39 and Los Angeles Angels DH Shohei Ohtani‘s 40.
Alonso added his sixth RBI in the eighth inning on a single to left that scored Francisco Alvarez and polished off the Mets’ 11-2 final.
4. Senga (8-6), whom the seventh-inning rain delay forced out of action due to the mound’s slippery conditions, gave the Mets an ace-like outing as the skid stopper. He yielded two runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking two in six innings of work, lowering his ERA to 3.24.
The Cubs mustered a pair of runs on Cody Bellinger‘s RBI singles in the third and fifth innings, but Senga worked out of trouble as he limited the damage on his 85 pitches (57 strikes).
5. Not to be overlooked by Alonso’s two dingers, Francisco Lindor set the table for the cleanup-batting first baseman with first- and third-inning singles. He recorded his third multi-hit performance in the past four games and has a five-game hitting streak dating back to last Thursday’s 9-2 loss at the Royals.
Through 112 games this season, Lindor — who added an eighth-inning knock in a 3-for-4 night — is batting .246 with 22 homers and 69 RBI.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Cubs continue their three-game series at Citi Field with Tuesday’s 7:10 p.m. start on SNY.
A pair of righties — New York’s Carlos Carrasco (3-6, 6.60 ERA) and Chicago’s Jameson Taillon (6-6, 5.36 ERA) — make for the probable pitchers.