Mets 10, Nationals 1 – The spectacle of Alonso and Acuña

If this was the breakout game for Pete Alonso, it came at a great time for the Mets.

Alonso matched his season-high with five RBIs in the Mets' 10-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night in New York. His first hit of the night was a key two-RBI hit against Texas Leaguers that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead in the third inning, and his third was a three-run home run that gave the Mets a 9-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Alonso finished the season 3-for-5 and raised his OPS to .805, which is a challenge for the franchise's first baseman in his contract year.

The Polar Bear has proven his power numbers — now at 33 home runs and 86 RBI — but has struggled with men on base all season (.210 average before Tuesday) and has only managed five extra-base hits in September. And with the Mets scoring just two runs total in their last two games amid a hot playoff hunt, having their biggest power hitter strike like he used to could certainly catapult the Mets into October baseball.

But before and after Alonso appeared, all eyes were on newcomer Luisangel Acuña – and not for the best reasons at first.

Starter Tylor Megill walked Nationals center fielder Jacob Young to start the third inning, and shortstop CJ Abrams entered the game on an error when Acuña dropped a potential force out throw at second base, allowing Young to reach third base. Young scored on a groundout by left fielder James Wood to give the Nats an early 1-0 lead.

Acuña soon made up for his mistake, however, with an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning that brought home Harrison Bader from first base and tied the score at 1-1. It was Acuña's first RBI and extra-base hit of his career – but not his last of the night, as he gave the Mets their 10th run of the game with a solo home run in the eighth inning.

The rookie finished the game 3-for-4 with his first MLB home run and two RBIs.

Acuña (along with Jose Iglesias) scored in the third inning on Alonso's soft single to shallow right field. Starling Marte then scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Vientos, and Francisco Alvarez increased the lead to 5-1 one inning later with a no-doubt solo home run to left field.

Two doubles from Alonso and Tyrone Taylor gave the Mets a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning. Taylor finished the game 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base, while Iglesias added three more hits – his fourth multi-hit game in the last five.

Iglesias is also on an 11-game hit streak, his longest since 2021 and the third-longest of the season for the Mets (Francisco Lindor holds the top two spots).

After a rocky start to the game, Megill (4-5) came back into the game and finished six innings with one run allowed (zero earned), two walks and four strikeouts. A bullpen squad of Adam Ottavino, Huascar Brazobán and Alex Young finished the game for the Mets without allowing a run.

The Mets (83-68) extended their lead in the NL Wild Card to two games with the Atlanta Braves' 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. The Mets will seek a sweep of the Nationals on Wednesday, with left-hander Jose Quintana seeking his 10th win of the season.

SB Nation Game Threads

Amazing Avenue

National Baseball

Match reports

MLB.com

ESPN

Probability of winning added

What is WPA?

Big Mets winner: Acuña (+15% WPA) and Alonso (+13% WPA)

Big Mets loser: JD Martinez (-5% WPA)

Mets pitcher: +12 % WPA

Mets bats: +38 % WPA

This is the best game: Acuña double (+15.2% WPA)

The sux0rest game: Acuña error (-10.4% WPA)