Jacob deGrom shuts Royals down on the hill and Pete Alonso knocks in the winner as the Mets top the Royals, 4-1. >> Box score

Five takeaways from Saturday's game

1) Jacob deGrom had another strong outing for the Mets, allowing only three hits in seven innings of work. At times, deGrom didn't appear to favor the strike zone, but he worked through the Royals lineup and finished his night with his fifth strikeout against Ryan O'Hearn with runners on to protect the lead. His final throw was his 107th pitch of the night. With the win, deGrom is now 8-7 on the year, the first time his record went above .500 since April 9 when he was 2-1 following his third start of the season.

2) While deGrom was good, he got some help with a good defensive effort behind him. Alex Gordon scored the Royals lone run on an error in the fourth inning (don't worry, the defense got better) when Jorge Soler made contact with one out. But with two men left on, the Mets turned a double play as Luis Guillorme fielded the ball at shortstop and Joe Panik turned the ball back to first for the second out. Just before deGrom's final K in the seventh inning, the Mets turned two again as Ruben Tejada fumbled a ground ball at shortstop, but recovered quickly enough to fire the ball to Guillorme at second base, who completed a quick turn to first for two outs.

3) Panik helped turn the Mets' momentum offensively in the fifth inning. Right after the Royals took the lead in the fourth, Amed Rosario hit into a double play with two men on. But Panik salvaged one run with an RBI single to tie the game at one.

The Mets offense then took the lead as Pete Alonso singled when the bases were loaded, right after an umpire review which looked at whether or not he hit a grand slam down the right field line. He didn't, but he still had the game-winning RBI as Juan Lagares and Aaron Altherr both scored on his hit.

4) Wilson Ramos continued his excellent play and hitting streak on Saturday. He had two hits to extend that streak to 12-straight games which leads the majors. Along with Ramos' multi-hit game, Lagares had three hits, including an RBI triple. Alonso also had three knocks and those two RBI.

5) After deGrom, the Mets bullpen naviagated the rest of the way. Justin Wilson allowed one hit in the eight inning, but held the Royals scoreless. In the final inning, Seth Lugo came out and recorded his third save this season as Edwin Diaz pitched Thursday and Friday and struggled in the second outing. It was Lugo's first appearance since allowing five runs in an outing earlier this week.

Highlights

Video: deGrom, Alonso lead Mets past Royals

What's next

Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (9-7 overall, 4.36 ERA) and Royals RHP Glenn Sparkman faceoff in the third and final game of the series on Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

Five takeaways from Saturday's game

Highlights

What's next

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