Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo both homer to power Mets to 9-3 win over Cardinals

The Mets scored four runs in the fifth inning and recorded 17 hits to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3, on Friday night.

Here are the key takeaways…

– Clay Holmes got out to a funky start, allowing a leadoff double to Lars Nootbaar who then stole third base and scored on Masyn Winn‘s infield single to put the Cardinals up 1-0. Francisco Alvarez helped Holmes by throwing out Winn trying to steal second, and the righty got Nolan Arenado to pop up for the third out. Holmes then carried that momentum for a scoreless second inning, including his first strikeout of the night.

Holmes let up a leadoff single to Victor Scott II in the bottom of the third, as he advanced to second on a groundout. Scott stole third and came around to score on Alvarez’s throwing error, tying the game at 2-2. Holmes then gave up an RBI-single to Willson Contreras as St. Louis took a 3-2 lead. The righty bounced back with two consecutive 1-2-3 innings through the fifth and retired a total of eight straight Cardinals into the sixth inning.

Holmes completed six innings of work, allowing a season-high eight hits, but just three runs. He struck out three and didn’t allow a walk.

– New York loaded the bases withno outsin the top of the second inning against Sonny Gray, as Jeff McNeil hit into a fielder’s choice, allowing a run to score to tie the game at 1-1. Alvarez then drove in Winker on a grounder to short, beating out the 6-4-3 double play to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. They had a chance to add more to the lead after Luisangel Acuña and Francisco Lindor walked, but Juan Soto struck out to end the frame.

– Pete Alonso hit a leadoff single in the top of the third, but was caught trying to steal second by Gray on his first attempt of the season. He’s now 7-for-21 on steals in his career.

– The bats woke up in the fifth, as Soto crushed a double (114.3 mph exit velocity) on an 0-2 pitch to right field with one away and scored on Alonso’s eighth home run of the season, a 417-foot blast to center field to put the Mets up 4-3. Brandon Nimmo and Jesse Winker made it four straight hits to knock Gray out of the game. Mark Vientos hit into what should’ve been an inning-ending double play, but Contreras dropped the ball at first, allowing the run to score. Alvarez went the other way against Chris Roycroft to drive in another, making it 6-3.

– New York tacked on two more runs in the seventh — Nimmo launched his seventh homer of the season and Alvarez drove in his third run of the game with another opposite-field hit, driving in Tyrone Taylor from second.

– Acuña’s double in the seventh gave every Mets starter (plus Taylor) at least one hit, as the team finished with 17 total hits — their second most in a game (21 in 19-5 win over Washington Nationals) this season. Acuña later added another run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth to go up 9-3.

– José Buttó tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning and worked around a little trouble to escape the eighth inning, keeping the score intact. Ryne Stanek pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

– Following a four-game sweep of the Cardinals in April, New York has now defeated St. Louis in nine straight contests — the first time in Mets franchise history.

Who was the game MVP?

Despite his throwing error that resulted in a run, Francisco Alvarez had his best game at the plate so far this year. He finished 3-for-5 with a season-high three RBI. Plus, he threw out the speedy Winn, helping settle down Holmes on the mound.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Mets continue their three-game series with the Cardinals on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA) gets the start for New York and will pitch opposite RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68 ERA).

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