Pete Alonso hit a home run and drove in five runs, while Luisangel Acuña celebrated his first major league homer in a big night for the New York Mets, who defeated the Washington Nationals 10-1 on Tuesday. This win helps the Mets improve their chances in a tight National League playoff race.
Tylor Megill (4-5) had another great performance in place of the injured starter Paul Blackburn, and Francisco Alvarez also hit a home run as the Mets boosted their record to 10-2 against Washington this season.
New York is now tied with Arizona for the second NL wild card, sitting two games ahead of rival Atlanta for the last playoff spot with 11 games left to play.
“I’m just really fired up because of the situation we’ve put ourselves in,” Alonso said, sharing his motivation during a team meeting after Francisco Lindor’s injury last weekend. “We control our own destiny.”
The crowd of 24,932 at Citi Field erupted when they saw that Cincinnati had come back to beat the Braves 6-5.
“I didn’t know,” Alonso said. “So someone told me that’s what they were cheering about, but I thought someone was just getting rowdy like, chugging beers or something like that. I mean, people do that.”
Jose Iglesias contributed three of New York’s 14 hits and scored twice, batting leadoff with Lindor out due to a sore back. Acuña, 22 and filling in for the star player at shortstop, finished just a triple short of the cycle and scored three runs in his fourth big league game and second start.
“He’s a true pro so far and that’s awesome to see,” Alonso said.
Acuña, the younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., got New York’s first run with a double for his first extra-base hit and followed it with a solo homer in the eighth, ending the game with his first two RBIs.
