Pete Alonso, Luisangel Acuna propel Mets to win, increase lead over Braves for final wild-card spot
The Mets were without Francisco Lindor once again Tuesday night.And once again, they managed to beat the Nationals to inch closer to a playoff berth.This time, an offense that has been missing its leadoff hitter looked just fine, as they used a four-run third inning to take control of a 10-1 win at Citi Field.Pete Alonso led the way with a three-run homer and five RBIs and Lindor’s replacement, Luisangel Acuna, delivered his first MLB homer and had three hits.They also got another assist from the Reds, who came back to beat the Braves to help put the Mets two games ahead in the race for the final NL wild card.The Mets will go for a sweep of Washington on Wednesday in Queens before the path to the postseason gets more difficult once again, with the Phillies coming to town on Thursday for a four-game set with 11 games left in the regular season.And it wasn’t just Alonso and the offense that led the way Tuesday, as Tylor Megill delivered his second straight superb outing.
The right-hander allowed just an unearned run in six innings of work.The lineup, which had scored just three runs in the previous two games, came alive in the third against lefty Mitchell Parker.Coming off one of his best starts of the season in Toronto, Megill gave up a pair of hits, as the rotation continues to deliver.He pitched around a two-out double by Dylan Crews in the second, whiffing Joey Gallo to end the inning.Megill walked Jacob Young to open the second.CJ Abrams followed with a grounder to third, and Mark Vientos tried to force Young at second, but Acuna missed the ball and it got away, putting runners on the corners with no one out.James Wood drove in the first run of the game — unearned — with a groundout and Megill walked Juan Yepez and then threw a wild pitch.But with runners on second and third, Megill rebounded to fan Luis Garcia Jr.
to keep it to one run.Harrison Bader led off the bottom of the inning with a four-pitch walk and Acuna atoned for his miscue at short with a...