Mets rally for seven runs over last two innings, beat Royals 8-3 in series opener

The Mets rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Here are some takeaways..

– After a brief rain delay, Kodai Senga was finally able to get out there in his return from the IL. The right-hander was greeted rudely as Kansas City quickly pushed the first two batters into scoring position, but two strikeouts and a liner right back through the box helped Senga out of the inning unscathed.

He faced even more trouble over the next two innings, both coming with two outs. Senga issued back-to-back walks in the second but was helped out by a nifty Ronny Mauricio snag, then he got rookie Jac Caglianone to chase a forkball in the dirt and strand runners on the corners in the third.

Senga was again helped out by Mauricio, as he finished his night with a much-needed clean fourth inning. He threw 67 pitches in his first start back and allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out four over four scoreless innings — he lowered his ERA to 1.39 on the year.

– The Mets appeared to have Michael Wacha on the ropes in the third as a walk and two hits loaded the bases, but they were only able to scratch across a run on a Pete Alonso walk — Juan Soto and Mark Vientos struck out between that — Vientos smashed his bat over the plate in frustration as his recent struggles continued.

– Alex Carrillo worked a scoreless inning behind Senga. The rookie right-hander came back out for the sixth and was able to get the first two outs, but Brandon Nimmo was unable to come up with a sliding grab on a sinking liner to left, and the game-tying run scored on a double.

– An inning later, the Royals jumped in front for the first time in the game as All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a go-ahead two-run homer to deep left-center on a Huascar Brazoban middle-middle fastball with one out in the seventh.

– The Mets answered right back, though, as the frustrated Vientos was able to deliver this time with the bases loaded. After falling behind in the count against Royals closer Carlos Estévez, the youngster laced a bases clearing double into the left-center gap to put New York back in front.

– Then in the ninth, New York would put this one away for good as Francisco Lindor lifted a three-run homer and Soto put one over the left-center fence, giving them back-to-back jacks. Lindor now has 19 on the season and Soto regains the team-lead with 22.

Game MVP: Mark Vientos

The go-ahead hit was a good sign for Vientos, who needed it desperately.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Royals continue their series on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

Frankie Montas (1-1, 6.14 ERA) makes his fourth start of the season against Michael Lorenzen (5-8, 4.61 ERA)

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