Sunday, September 25, 2022

Mets Finish Road Trip On High Note, As Max & Alonso Lead Way Past A's

Pete Alonso celebrating his home run with Francisco Lindor. @Mets.

 

The Mets ended the road trip on a high note, as they beat the Oakland Athletics, 13-4, on Sunday afternoon, led by a great outing from Max Scherzer and some history from Pete Alonso.

The Mets are now 97-57 after their 4-2 road trip, as they took two of three both in Milwaukee over the Brewers, and the A's in Oakland. They began the trip by clinching a playoff spot last Monday night in Milwaukee, a night in which Scherzer also got his 200th career win.

In the battle for the National League East division title, the Mets have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Atlanta Braves, who are 95-58 after a come-from-behind 11-inning, 8-7 win in Philadelphia.

There are just eight games left in the regular season - two against the Miami Marlins three at the Atlanta Braves, and three vs. the Washington Nationals, and the Mets need three more wins to earn their 100th victory for just the fourth time in their history, which has been done in 1969, 1986, and 1988.

Pete Alonso had a big day, as he set the Mets' franchise record for RBI in a single season. His two-run home run in the fourth inning, his 39th of the year, gave him 125 RBI on the season, passing Mike Piazza (1999) and David Wright (128), who were tied for the record with 124.

Alonso added to his new record with three more RBI on a double in the eighth to give him 128 on the season, and that put the Mets ahead 11-1 at the time. That ties him with the Yankees' Aaron Judge for the Major League RBI lead.

The Mets first baseman also holds the Mets' single-season home run record, 53, which he did in his rookie season in 2019. That also is the Major League rookie-season HR record, as he passed Judge's 52 in 2017

Scherzer was superb once again, as he earned his second straight victory to improve to 11-4 with a 2.13 ERA (earned run average) on the season. He went six innings, allowing one run (earned) on four hits and a walk, with seven strikeouts.

The Mets gave Scherzer plenty of support early against Oakland starter JP Sears, whom they acquired from the Yankees in the Frankie Montas trade.

Tyler Naquin got the Mets on the board with an RBI single in the second inning, and Eduardo Escobar followed with a two-run double in the third, keeping up his torrid pace in September, to make it 3-0.

In the fourth, Francisco Lindor got a two-run double, followed by Alonso's two-run shot, to open up a 7-0 Mets lead. Seth Brown hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the fourth for Oakland's lone run.

The Mets blew it open in the eighth when they put up five runs, as Lindor got an RBI single, Alonso had his three-run double, and Alonso scored when Escobar hit into a double play.

Lindor finished the day with three RBI to give him 103 on the season, and when coupled with Alonso's 128, it means this is the sixth time the Mets have had two players with 100 RBI in a season. This is the first instance since 2008, when Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright each had 100-plus RBI.

The Mets tacked one on in the ninth when Naquin and Tomas Nido opened the inning with doubles, and Luis Guillorme followed with an RBI groundout to bring in Naquin and make it 13-1 at the time.

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