Pete Alonso homered and collected five RBIs on Tuesday for the host New York Mets, who solidified their grip on a National League wild-card spot by cruising to a 10-1 win over the Washington Nationals.
Alonso and rookie Luisangel Acuna each finished a triple shy of the cycle for the Mets (83-68), who have won the first two games of the three-game series to move into a tie for the second and third wild cards with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona lost to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
The Atlanta Braves are two games behind. The Braves, who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, squandered a four-run lead Tuesday in a 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
James Wood had an RBI while Dylan Crews had three of the four hits registered by the Nationals (68-83), who fell to 7-8 this month.
Wood gave the Nationals a short-lived lead by beating out the back end of a potential double-play ball against Tylor Megill (4-5) in the third inning.
Acuna and Alonso sparked a four-run rally in the bottom of the third against Mitchell Parker (7-10). Acuna laced his first major league extra-base hit, an RBI double, before Alonso blooped a two-run single down the right field line. Mark Vientos followed with a sacrifice fly.
New York’s Francisco Alvarez homered leading off the fourth and Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI double in the fifth to make it 6-1.
The Mets piled on in the seventh, when Alonso hit a three-run homer, and in the eighth, when Acuna hit his first round-tripper.
The five RBIs tied a season high for Alonso, who also knocked in five runs on June 16 in an 11-6 win over the San Diego Padres. His career high is six RBIs, done twice.
New York’s Jose Iglesias finished with three hits while Taylor and Starling Marte had two hits apiece.
Megill allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings.
Parker gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks while fanning one over 3 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
