NEW YORK (AP) — Slump-busting hits by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso were just what the New York Mets needed to finish a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.
Lindor snapped a career-worst 0-for-31 drought and Alonso ended a 2-for-34 slide as the Mets beat the Angels 6-3 on Wednesday. New York won its fourth straight after losing its first two games coming out of the All-Star break.
Lindor gave the Mets the lead for good with a 76.6 mph RBI single in the third inning. The shortstop had made three outs on balls hit harder than 97 mph since Sunday, including a 98.2 mph fly to center in his first at-bat Wednesday.
“Funny how baseball works,” Lindor said. “When you’re good, you’re good. When you suck, you suck.”
Two batters after Lindor’s looper, Alonso, whose slump dated to July 10, hit a 439-foot three-run homer — his 22nd longball of the season — to left field that was clocked at 112 mph off the bat.
“Felt awesome,” Alonso said. “Those are kind of few and far between. Balls like that you kind of dream about — well, for me at least.”
As relieved as they were to fuel the four-run third, Lindor and Alonso found further encouragement in the hits they collected later in the game. Lindor, whose batting average has slipped from .289 to .248 since June 7, produced the Mets’ final run with another RBI single in the fourth.
“Past couple of games, felt like my at-bats got better,” Lindor said. “I made the pitcher work a little bit more and there were more productive outs. And that, plus the combination of winning, is a good recipe.”
Alonso singled to right in the seventh for his third multihit game of the month.
“Honestly, I’m more satisfied with that inside-out single my last at-bat,” Alonso said. “The homer obviously is super great. But personally, when I’m hitting the ball to the big part of the field, that’s when I feel good.”
The Mets are 5-0 this season when Alonso and Lindor have multiple hits in a game and 13-0 in such games dating to last July.
“We’re going to need those guys,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We know that they’re going through it, but they’re too good, man. They’re too good of a hitter and too good of a player and I’m glad they were able to come through for us today.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
