NEW YORK (AP) — Ronny Mauricio hit his first major league homer, Pete Alonso launched his 44th of the season and the New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-4 on Tuesday night.
Francisco Álvarez also went deep and José Butto earned his first career win as New York handed the Diamondbacks a costly defeat. Arizona began the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Miami and San Francisco in a crowded race for the final National League wild card.
Miami lost to Milwaukee, but Cincinnati moved within a game of the Diamondbacks by edging Detroit 6-5 in 10 innings. San Francisco hosted Cleveland later.
New York won hours after David Stearns agreed to become the team’s president of baseball operations, according to several reports — filling a spot that’s been vacant since Steve Cohen bought the team following the 2020 season.
Mauricio, who was called up from the minors Sept. 1 and began his career with a five-game hitting streak, put the Mets ahead 3-1 with a 440-foot shot deep into the second deck in right field in the fourth. The 22-year-old rookie flipped his bat high in the air and pointed to the home dugout before beginning his trot.
Mauricio has four RBIs in the first two games of the four-game series.
One inning later, Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. didn’t even move when Alonso hit a two-run drive that was clocked at 113 mph off the bat and traveled 424 feet into the second deck in left.
Álvarez connected leading off the eighth. Brandon Nimmo doubled twice and tripled, while DJ Stewart also had three of New York's 13 hits. Francisco Lindor finished with two RBIs.
Butto (1-2) allowed one run and struck out seven in five innings. Sam Coonrod plunked Seby Zavala with the bases loaded in the eighth and then walked Geraldo Perdomo to make it 6-4 before Adam Ottavino got speedy Corbin Carroll to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Ottavino closed out his 10th save with a perfect ninth.
Ketel Marte gave the Diamondbacks a short-lived lead with an RBI triple in the third. Gurriel added an RBI single in the sixth.
Ryne Nelson (7-8) gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings.
SNAKE MOVES
The Diamondbacks recalled OF Jake McCarthy from Triple-A Reno and optioned OF Pavin Smith to the same affiliate.
TRIPLE THE FUN
Marte and Nimmo both tripled in the third inning. It was the first time this season the Mets and their opponent tripled in the same inning and the third time it happened to the Diamondbacks.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo said C Gabriel Moreno’s wife gave birth to a son. Moreno went on the paternity list Monday. … INF Emmanuel Rivera (left shoulder) didn’t play one night after banging his shoulder on the tarp trying to make a sixth-inning catch.
Mets: RHP Sean Reid-Foley (right lat) was placed on the injured list and RHP Reed Garrett was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Reid-Foley, who returned Aug. 23 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2022, was injured at the end of his one-inning outing Monday.
UP NEXT
The four-game series continues Wednesday night, when LHP Joey Lucchesi (2-0, 3.54 ERA) will be called up from the minors by the Mets to start against RHP Zac Gallen (15-7, 3.31).
Lucchesi is 0-2 with an 8.36 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Syracuse since his most recent start for the parent club on Aug. 18. Gallen threw the first nine-inning shutout of his career last Friday, when he held the Chicago Cubs to three hits in a 1-0 victory.
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