Pete Alonso ripped the tiebreaking, two-run double during a seventh-inning flurry Monday night and the New York Mets went on to beat the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.
The Mets claimed the opener of a three-game series for their third victory in four games. The Brewers have lost two straight following an 11-game winning streak that was the second-longest run in franchise history.
The Mets got just one hit in the first six innings against Brewers All-Star pitcher Brandon Woodruff (7-4), who needed just 64 pitches to record his first 18 outs. Woodruff opened the game by retiring nine straight, then set down nine consecutive batters following Brandon Nimmo’s double leading off the fourth.
Francisco Lindor, whose bunt in the fourth helped build the Mets’ first run, drew a five-pitch walk to open the seventh. Dominic Smith, who lofted the game-tying sacrifice fly in the fourth, followed in the seventh with a single.
Pitching coach Chris Hook visited Woodruff, but Alonso doubled on the first pitch he saw to drive in Lindor and Smith. Jeff McNeil grounded out before Michael Conforto delivered an RBI single to end the night for Woodruff.
Woodruff allowed four runs on four hits and one walk while striking out six over 6 1/3 innings as his ERA rose from 1.87 to 2.10. It was just the second time this season he surrendered more than three runs.
The rally made a winner of the Mets’ third pitcher, Seth Lugo (2-1), who struck out two in a perfect seventh.
New York reliever Trevor May yielded one hit in the eighth. Edwin Diaz allowed the first three batters he faced to reach in the ninth, including Tyrone Taylor’s RBI single, before retiring the next three batters to lock down his 18th save.
Tylor Megill, making his third career start, battled Woodruff by allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings.
Omar Narvaez gave the Brewers a brief lead in the fourth by hitting a one-out solo homer off Megill. Mets pitchers combined to retire 14 of the next 16 batters before Diaz ran into trouble in the ninth.
–Field Level Media