Pete Alonso hit a home run for the third time in five games, and Paul Blackburn allowed only one run in his Mets debut as New York defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 on Friday night.
Brandon Nimmo went 3 for 5, and every player in the Mets’ lineup had at least one hit. New York has now won three of its last four games.
Blackburn (5-2), who was traded to the Mets from Oakland on Monday, beat the Angels for the second time in eight days. The right-hander pitched six innings, gave up one run on six hits, and struck out six.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was pleased with Blackburn’s performance, especially his ability to use all his pitches effectively.
“Honestly, I came in today, saw him, and told him to be himself and I would talk to him after the game,” Mendoza said. Blackburn joined the Mets on Thursday but only met most of his new teammates before Friday’s game.
Blackburn said the pregame meeting and his work with catcher Francisco Alvarez went better than he had expected.
“The preparation on his end, constant communication between innings was fun to watch. For the first time out, couldn’t have gone better with us,” Blackburn said. “It’s been crazy but I’m here to do the job. … We got the win, that’s all I’m here for really. That’s all I care about.”
Nolan Schanuel had two hits and extended his hitting streak to seven games for the Angels, who have lost six of eight games during their homestand. Jo Adell had an RBI single in the second inning.
“I think we took him for granted,” Angels manager Ron Washington said about facing Blackburn. “Tried to do too much with him and took too many big swings instead of trying to keep the line moving. When you have a young offense, that’s what happens.”
With one out in the third inning and Nimmo on first base, Alonso hit a first-pitch cutter from Tyler Anderson (8-10) into the left field stands to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Alonso is tied for fifth in the National League with 23 home runs.
“I felt pretty good at the dish for a long time now. I’m just happy that the balls and line drives are starting to carry over the fence,” Alonso said.
