Mets 10, Nationals 1 – The Alonso and Acuña Spectacle

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

Alonso tied his season record with five RBI during a 10-1 Mets victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night in New York. His first hit of the night came on a tiebreaking, two-RBI Texas Leaguer that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead in the third inning, and his third was a three-run homer that gave the Mets a 9-1 lead in the sixth.

Alonso went 3-for-5 and raised his OPS to .805 on the season, posing a challenge for the franchise’s first baseman in a contract year.

The Polar Bear has put up his power numbers—now at 33 homers and 86 RBI—but has struggled to get men on base all season (.210 average entering Tuesday) and has just five extra-base hits in September. And with the Mets combining for just two runs in their past two games in the midst of a heated playoff chase, having their biggest power threat stomp as hard as he has in the past could certainly propel the Mets into October baseball.

But before and after Alonso put his best foot forward, all eyes were on debutant Luisangel Acuña, and not for the best of reasons at first.

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

However, Acuña quickly made up for his mistake with an RBI double in the final inning, scoring Harrison Bader from first base to tie the score at 1–1. It was Acuña’s first career RBI and extra-base hit, though it was not his last that 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 RBI.

Acuña (along with Jose Iglesias) scored in the third on Alonso’s soft single to shallow right field. Starling Marte then scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Vientos, and Francisco Alvarez made it 5-1 an inning later with a no-doubter solo homer to left field.

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

Iglesias also has an 11-hit streak, his longest since 2021 and tied for the Mets’ third-longest of the season (the first two spots are held by Francisco Lindor).

After a shaky start to the game, Megill (4-5) calmed down and finished six innings with one run allowed (none earned), two hits and four strikeouts. A bullpen relay of Adam Ottavino, Huascar Brazobán and Alex Young ended the game without a run for the Mets.

The Mets (83-68) extended their NL Wild Card lead to two games with the Atlanta Braves’ 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. The Mets are looking to sweep the Nationals on Wednesday, with left-handed starter Jose Quintana looking for his 10th win of the season.

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Win probability added

What is WPA?

Winner of the Big Mets: Acuña (+15% EPS) and Alonso (+13% EPS)

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

Mets pitchers: +12% WPA

Mets batters: +38% WPA

The best game: Acuña double (+15.2% WPA)

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