NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso homered twice and drove in four runs, reaching 40 homers and 100 RBIs for the second consecutive season as the New York Mets beat the first-place Seattle Mariners 6-3 on Sunday.
Jeff McNeil also went deep — after finishing a homer shy of the cycle Saturday night — and New York took two of three games from the Mariners to hand them their first series loss since Aug. 11-13 against Baltimore.
Seattle began the day leading the AL West by one game over Houston and two over Texas.
Alonso hit an RBI single in the first inning before his two-run shot in the third made him the fifth player in major league history with at least three 40-homer seasons in his first five campaigns, joining Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Eddie Matthews as well as Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols.
Alonso’s solo homer in the seventh gave him 100 RBIs for the third time. His 41 home runs are tied for the second-most in a season in franchise history with Todd Hundley and Carlos Beltran. Alonso holds the team record with 53 as a rookie in 2019.
Francisco Álvarez had an RBI single for the fourth-place Mets (63-74), and touted rookie Ronny Mauricio went 1 for 4 with a single in his third big league game. Mauricio was the seventh player in team history to begin his career with consecutive multi-hit games.
Tylor Megill (8-7) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Adam Ottavino allowed a pair of baserunners in the ninth before striking out J.P. Crawford to earn his eighth save.
Dominic Canzone and Mike Ford hit back-to-back homers in the fourth for the Mariners.
George Kirby (10-9), who hadn’t started since Aug. 23 due to an illness, gave up four runs (three earned) in three innings. He threw 73 pitches, including 52 in the opening two innings — his most in the first two innings of a game.
STREAKING
Teoscar Hernández extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a fifth-inning single for Seatle. Julio Rodríguez’s 15-game hitting streak ended as he went 0 for 4.
BRING IT ALL HOME
The series in New York was a homecoming for several Mariners. Dominic Leone, a Connecticut native who was claimed off waivers from the Angels on Thursday, threw 1 1/3 innings for Seattle, the third team for whom he has pitched this season at Citi Field. He signed with the Mets in May before being traded to Los Angeles on Aug. 1. Kirby grew up in Rye, a little more than 20 miles from Citi Field, and Justin Topa, who earned the win Saturday, played at Long Island University after graduating from high school in upstate Binghamton.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: 1B Ty France (elbow) didn’t play after being hit by a pitch Saturday night. France has been plunked 29 times, tops in the majors.
Mets: 3B Mark Vientos (right foot), injured running the bases Saturday night, sat out but is expected to play Tuesday at Washington. … RF Starling Marte (right groin) feels better after a week of treatment in Philadelphia but said surgery is an option if he doesn’t continue improving. Marte underwent double groin surgery last fall.
UP NEXT
Mariners: A 10-game road trip continues as RHP Bryan Woo (2-3, 4.15 ERA) pitches Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati. The Mariners are 15-3 all-time against the Reds — their least-frequent opponent.
Mets: Following a day off, LHP José Quintana (1-5, 3.26 ERA) opens a two-game series Tuesday in Washington, which counters with LHP Patrick Corbin (9-12, 4.90). Quintana has allowed three runs or fewer in seven of eight starts this season.
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