NEW YORK — Pete Alonso continues to put together an MVP campaign carrying the Mets as of late, but he needed some help from Francisco Lindor to secure the victory.
Lindor came up huge in the bottom of the 10th inning, hitting a walk-off single to defeat his former team, 10-9. It was his first ever game against Cleveland.
Guardians pinch-hitter Gabriel Arias almost got Cleveland the win. He hit a two-run homer off of reliever Drew Smith in the top of the 10th to go up 9-7. It was Smith’s first homer given up this season.
Arias almost spoiled the night for the Alonso and the Mets. The slugger, with the Mets down four runs in the seventh inning, smoked a grand slam 400 feet to right-center field to tie the game and give hope to the home crowd of securing a third straight victory. It was Alonso’s 17th homer of the season and the fourth in as many days.
This matchup started out rough.
Guardians manager Terry Francona said pregame that he “loves” former Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco but hoped to “beat his brains out” during Friday’s matchup.
Francona’s club did that.
The Guardians quickly bombarded Carrasco with three runs in the first inning. It was Carrasco’s first game against his former team and first start since landing on the injured list with elbow inflammation last month.
The runs continued to rain in.
Josh Naylor got his team on the board with a three-run home run to center field in the first inning. Carrasco gave up a leadoff single to outfielder Myles Straw that led to an RBI single from catcher Cam Gallagher in the second to make the score 4-0.
Former Met Amed Rosario’s RBI single in the fifth stretched the lead to five.
Carrasco’s night ended after five innings. He gave up five hits, five earned, two walks and struck out just three over 80 pitches. The right-hander’s ERA now sits at 8.68.
The righty’s short start now makes it the 32nd time in 46 games a Met starter pitched five innings or less this season.
Francisco Alvarez’s second home run in as many days got the Mets on the board Friday in the bottom of the fifth. He hit the homer off of Guardians starter Cal Quantrill, who allowed three earned runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Jeff McNeil added on in the frame with an RBI single.
Brett Baty hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth, showcasing opposite-field power to make the score 5-3.
The other youngster in the lineup, Mark Vientos, went 1 for 4 on the night. It was the first time Alvarez, Baty and Vientos were in a major-league lineup altogether.
The game almost got ugly for the Mets down two runs in the seventh, but a baserunning blunder from Cleveland with no outs limited the damage. Rosario lined out Stephen Nogosek’s pitch, setting up a potential sacrifice fly opportunity. Outfielder Will Brennan then got himself caught in a run-down after Brandon Nimmo fired the ball in, leading to the second out.
The Guardians loaded the bases again and got two more runs off a single from Naylor.
Naylor finished the night with five RBI. The Mets had to use six relievers on the night, with David Robertson pitched in his third straight game.
The Mets will look forward to Max Scherzer taking the mound on Saturday against Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee. Justin Verlander is scheduled to start on Sunday, looking to bounce back from his poor Citi Field debut on May 16. Verlander was booed off the field that game and now will have to attempt to outduel Guardians ace Shane Bieber.
