The Mets jumped all over the Rangers early and pounded out a season-high 22 hits to run away with a 14-2 win Monday night in Texas.
New York improved to 34-37 on the season, winning its sixth game in a row and 10th in their last 12.
It was the Mets’ 10th game in franchise history with 22 hits or more.
Here are the takeaways…
- The Mets wasted no time jumping on Texas right-hander Jon Gray in the first. Francisco Lindor hit a rocket past second baseman Marcus Semien (104.2 mph off the bat), and J.D. Martinez hit yet another base hit the opposite way that set up Pete Alonso to serve a two-strike slider the opposite-way for an RBI single. But the rally stalled there.
The papercut offense got back going in the second. Mark Vientos slammed a singled to left, Jeff McNeil roped a single to right and Lindor rocketed yet another single right up the middle – nearly taking Gray’s head off – for an RBI.
Brandon Nimmo kept the conga line going, lining a single the other way for an RBI. After Martinez launched a 413-foot fly out to center, Alonso ripped a single past the third baseman for his second RBI of the night.
DJ Stewart – mired in a 1-for-27 skid – finally ended the run of eight singles by blasting a towering three-run home run 398 feet to right field (104.8 mph) to make it 7-0 after two frames.
- The hit parade, after a pause in the third, returned in the fourth and ended Gray’s night after just two pitches. Lindor rocketed Gray's first pitch of the inning into right field for his third single of the night and Nimmo lined a frozen rope (106.1 mph) into the right field seats for a two-run homer on the second.
- The Mets added two more in the fifth when Francisco Alvarez joined the party with a single up the middle. After McNeil walked, Lindor lined an RBI double off the chalk down the right field line before he came around to score on Nimmo’s single to make it 11-2.
Lindor finished 4-for-4 with two RBI and Nimmo finished 3-for-4 with four RBI. Both were lifted for pinch hitters with the game in hand in the seventh.
- Alvarez got his second hit of the night and drove in the 12th run of the game – scoring Stewart, who singled and advanced to third on a Vientos single.
- In addition to Lindor and Nimmo, the Mets had three other hitters with three hits: Alonso went 3-for-5 with two RBI, Vientos went 3-for-5 with a double, and Alvarez went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Overall, the Mets had 14 runs on 22 hits with one walk, a hit by pitch and seven strikeouts before position player Andrew Knizner came on to pitch with two down in the eighth inning.
- David Peterson got the privilege of walking out to the mound with a lead before he even threw a pitch and he didn't squander that opportunity.
Peterson, who allowed two hits in the first two frames, got stung in the third. The lefty got two strikeouts sandwiching a walk. After possibly getting squeezed by home plate umpire Jansen Visconti on a two-strike offering, a down-and-in slider to Robbie Grossman was deposited into the left-field stands for a two-run homer.
Peterson responded with a pair of 1-2-3 innings before he put two on in the sixth on a double and two-out walk, but kept the Rangers off the board further.
His final line: 6.0 innings, four hits, two earned runs, three walks, six strikeouts on 100 pitches (62 strikes). On the night the lefty tallied a 27 percent called strike plus whiff rate.
- Adam Ottavino, pitching for the first time since he got five outs on Friday, took over and worked two scoreless frames, allowing a single with three strikeouts.
Drew Smith admirably pitched the ninth inning, allowing a two-out double, to end the laugher in under three hours.