Francisco Alvarez’s heroics help Mets salvage doubleheader split with Braves
This Mets’ homestand hardly went according to plan, from washouts to more losses than wins.
They ended things on a high note, at least, with a 5-3 win over Atlanta in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader at Citi Field following a 9-8 loss in the opener.
Francisco Alvarez delivered the key blow in the win, a go-ahead, two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and David Robertson closed it with his first two-inning save of the year.
It gave the Mets a split of the twin bill after they’d lost six of seven and Atlanta had won five of its last six.
And it also snapped the Mets’ six-game losing streak to their NL East rivals.
“We needed a win,’’ Robertson said. “We’re definitely not firing on all cylinders or playing our best baseball. We’re waiting for some guys to get back and things to go our way between the lines. … It would’ve been tough to go on a plane and go to Detroit feeling we got swept here.”
Instead, they’ll head to Detroit for three games, where Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are expected to start two of the games, coming off a comeback victory.
“It’s been that way for a while,’’ Buck Showalter said of his team’s ability to fight back. “Teams punch us early and our guys have a way of punching back.”
The day got off to a rough start for the Mets, who fell behind early and couldn’t catch up, as the Braves used a pair of three-run homers from Sean Murphy to take the opener.
Eduardo Escobar’s pinch-hit solo homer off lefty A.J. Minter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth got the Mets to within a run and Brett Baty followed with a shot to right, but it was right at Ronald Acuna Jr. to end the game.
Atlanta continued to pour it on in the second with a two-run homer from Kevin Pillar that ended starter Denyi Reyes’ day.
John Curtiss came in and was greeted by a mammoth homer into the upper deck in left by Acuna that was measured at 448 feet to make it 6-1.
But the Mets got back into the game in the bottom of the third, as Starling Marte led off with a single and Francisco Lindor walked before Pete Alonso hit his 11th homer of the season, a three-run shot that cut the deficit to 6-4.
Spencer Strider retired the final nine batters he faced in his 107-pitch outing.
A laser home run over the Mets bullpen in right-center by Baty to lead off the bottom of the sixth made it a one-run game.
It was Baty’s first career homer off a left-hander and came against Dylan Lee, who is typically excellent against lefty hitters.
Murphy hit his second three-run homer of the afternoon in the seventh for a 9-5 Atlanta lead.
The second game began with Tylor Megill drilling Acuna in his upper back, near his left shoulder, forcing him from the game.
Later in the game, Atlanta bench coach Walt Weiss yelled at Mets third-base coach Alex Cora, still upset about the play.
“It was bad optics,’’ Weiss said. “It didn’t look good.”
Buck Showalter dismissed any notion that the pitch was intentional.
Daniel Vogelbach got the Mets’ offense started with an RBI double in the second that scored Jeff McNeil and Marte had a run-scoring single to score Baty in the fifth.
But Megill, who was excellent through five innings, faltered in the sixth, giving up a leadoff double to Chadwick Tromp and a pair of walks to load the bases with two outs.
Megill remained in the game to face the lefty-swinging Eddie Rosario, even with Drew Smith up in the bullpen.
Rosario’s three-run double gave Atlanta the lead, but Alvarez answered with his two-run double in the bottom of the inning.
“When you first get called up, you want to do a lot and are eager to hit and prove you belong here,’’ Alvarez said through an interpreter of his early-season struggles. “As time goes on, [you realize] it’s the same. It’s just baseball.”
