Pete Alonso drove in three runs against Arizona ace Zac Gallen as the host New York Mets recorded a 7-1 victory over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, tightening the race for the National League’s final wild-card spot.
The Diamondbacks (76-71) went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and dropped into a tie with the Cincinnati Reds (76-71) for the NL’s third wild-card position.
Rafael Ortega added an RBI double and a key outfield assist in the fourth as the Mets (67-78) improved to 5-1 in the season series with the Diamondbacks. Mark Vientos contributed a two-run homer for the Mets, who totaled 11 hits.
Alonso raised his season RBI total to 108 while going 2-for-5. He hit an RBI single in the first after Francisco Lindor doubled off the right field wall. The first baseman added a two-run double in the fifth for a 4-0 lead and reached on a run-scoring fielding error and was not credited with an RBI in the sixth.
New York’s productive night at the plate proved enough for Joey Lucchesi (3-0), who was back in the majors for the first time since Aug. 18. Lucchesi allowed an unearned run and five hits in seven-plus innings. The left-hander struck out two, walked three and got 10 groundball outs.
The Mets carried a 1-0 lead into the fourth, when Arizona’s Tommy Pham opened with a walk and took third on Lourdes Gurriel’s base hit after Lucchesi was called for two pitch-clock violations. Ortega cut the ball off and made a strong throw to second baseman Jeff McNeil to easily get Gurriel well before he reached second.
New York began pulling away after Ortega’s assist. McNeil scored from first by leaping into the plate on Ortega’s double in the bottom of the fourth, and Vientos hit a two-run homer to chase Gallen for a 6-0 lead in the sixth.
Alonso made it 7-0 when he hit a tapper to reliever Andrew Saalfrank, who misplayed the ball, allowing Brett Baty to score.
Coming off a three-hit shutout on Friday against the Cubs, Gallen (15-8) was tagged for seven runs — six earned — on eight hits in five-plus innings. He struck out four and walked two in his 90-pitch outing.
Arizona scored its lone run in the eighth on Pham’s RBI groundout.
–Field Level Media
