Mets' Francisco Alvarez homers during three-run fifth in win over Angels
Francisco Alvarez of the Mets reacts after his fifth-inning two-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets’ outlook was bleak through 4 2⁄3 innings against the Angels Tuesday night, mustering only one hit against 35-year-old righthander Kyle Hendricks.
But it was the oft-criticized bottom of the order — after president of baseball operations David Stearns made a point on Monday to say that the team’s lineup depth has been “pretty good” over the past couple weeks — that turned the tide.
Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio — hitting seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively — came through with clutch two-out hits in a three-run fifth in which the Mets took the lead and never looked back en route to a 3-2 win in front an announced sell-out crowd of 43,055 at Citi Field.
“We’re the type of team that’s never going to give up,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “We’re always going to continue to fight. Whether we’re down, whether the game’s kind of far away — we’re always going to continue to fight and we’re always going to continue to battle.”
In the ninth, Ryne Stanek worked around a leadoff single by Sayville’s Logan O’Hoppe (3-for-4) and a two-out single by Nolan Schanuel (4-for-5) to secure his third save. Mike Trout popped out to Pete Alonso to end the game.
Baty provided the second of five hits — a two-out double in the fifth — for the Mets (58-44), who won their third consecutive game. Hendricks (5-7, 4.92 ERA) unraveled from there.
Alvarez, playing in his second game after being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, launched a 374-foot home run to leftfield — his fourth in 37 games this season, and first at Citi Field — after falling behind 0-and-2 to tie the score at 2.
“I see how hard [Alvarez] works, and he puts everything he has into it,” Brandon Nimmo said. “He loves the game. He loves playing. He loves the big moments. And so, for good people, you want to see good things happen to them.”
Mauricio then singled, stole second and scored on Nimmo’s single to centerfield to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
“Having those guys at the bottom being able to continue to put together some really good at-bats [is huge],” Carlos Mendoza said. “They get on base. They get the big hit. They’re hitting the ball out of the ballpark. They’re controlling the strike zone. And ,as long as we continue to turn our lineup over, we’re going to have success.”
Francisco Lindor went 0-for-4, extending his career-long hitless streak to 30 at-bats after striking out with men on first and second with one out in the seventh. He still hasn’t gotten a hit since the All-Star break.
Said Mendoza: “He’s pretty steady, and I haven’t seen any sign of any frustration or anything like that.”
Righthander Frankie Montas (3-1, 4.62) allowed two runs and eight hits, walked two and struck out six in 5 2⁄3 innings. He exited after O’Hoppe’s single with two outs in the sixth. Rico Garcia induced a groundout to end the inning.
“I thought I threw some good splitters, some good sweepers, good sliders,” Montas said. “I thought I had a kind of nice amount of pitches working tonight.”
Said Mendoza: “A very good outing and very good step for him.”
Garcia got two more outs in the seventh, and Reed Garrett did not allow a baserunner in 1 1⁄3 innings.
The Angels (49-52) committed two infield errors to start the seventh, allowing Alvarez and Mauricio to reach. Ryan Zeferjahn struck out Nimmo and Lindor, intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases and struck out Alonso to end the threat.
Mark Vientos’ two-out, second-inning single gave the Mets their first hit — a ball that plopped into center and would have been caught if not for a miscommunication between centerfielder Jo Adell and second baseman Luis Rengifo.
The Angels would have scored in the first inning if not for Soto’s sixth assist of the season. Schanuel hit a one-out double and Trout followed with a single to rightfield. Soto fielded Trout’s hit and fired a perfect one-hopper to Alvarez, who applied the tag on Schanuel at the plate.
Jorge Soler’s two-out solo homer in the second gave the Angels a 1-0 lead. Schanuel’s second double of the night scored Rengifo to extend the Angels’ lead to 2-0 in the fifth. Montas escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam after Adell hit a 389-foot flyout to center.
“We have a group of guys that [are] going to find a way how to produce runs,” Montas said. “They’re going to find a way to keep us in the game, and [tonight’s] a really good example of what they can do.”
Notes & quotes: Starling Marte (right knee bruise) was activated Tuesday after a two-week stint on the ILbut did not play.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
