Surging Mets rout Rangers for 6th straight win
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DJ Stewart hit a three-run homer and Brandon Nimmo also went deep around a bunch of singles as the New York Mets extended their winning streak to six games with a 14-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.
The Mets’ 22 hits, five for extra bases, were their most since getting 23 against Atlanta in August 2019. They had five players with at least three hits for the first time since August 2018 at Philadelphia.
“Right now, we’re riding a good wave. Hitting’s contagious and it seems like we are in one of those stages where everything’s coming our way,” leadoff batter Francisco Lindor said. “We’ve just got to continue to ride as long as we can.”
Lindor went 4 for 4 with three singles and a double, three runs scored and two RBIs — all in the first five innings. Pete Alonso had three singles, two of those driving in runs.
Rangers starter Jon Gray, who had a 1.53 ERA over his previous 12 games, felt he was tipping pitches.
“It seemed like they knew what was coming,” Gray said. “I’m just not sure what it is.”
Nimmo’s two-run shot with nobody out in the fourth made it 9-2 and chased Gray (2-3), who allowed nine singles and those two homers. Nimmo also had a pair of RBI singles in his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, and is 10 for 16 in that span.
Reigning World Series champion Texas (33-39) has lost four in a row and 22 of 33 overall. The Rangers are a season-worst six games under .500 and nine games behind AL West-leading Seattle, which swept them last weekend.
“We’ll get this figured out here,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had a really good pitcher out there that’s done a great job for us that had an off night. ... A lot of pitches over the heart of the plate.”
The Mets have won 12 of 16 games, and their six-game winning streak matches their season high.
David Peterson (3-0) became the first Mets pitcher this season to win three consecutive starts. The lefty allowed two runs over six innings, with six strikeouts and three walks in his fourth start since offseason surgery on his left hip.
Playing in Globe Life Field for the first time and at Texas for the first time since 2017, the Mets (34-37) already had eight singles before Stewart’s drive with two outs in the second inning for a 7-0 lead. Lindor reached on a single just before Nimmo’s eighth homer of the season.
“Guys were making really, really good contact on pitches in the zone,” Nimmo said. “Even the ones that weren’t the greatest contact, they’re finding some grass. And, there’s days like that, and there’s a reason that you don’t get 22 hits in the big leagues every single day. A lot of things have to go right in order for that to happen.”
Gray’s season ERA jumped from 2.17 to 3.31 after throwing 42 of 55 pitches for strikes, and matching career highs for earned runs and hits allowed in a game. The right-hander had allowed only 10 earned runs over 58 2/3 innings in a span that was interrupted by a 15-day injured list stint because of a right groin strain.
Rangers catcher Andrew Knizner had his second scoreless relief appearance in a week, pitching the final 1 1/3 innings after throwing 1 2/3 innings to close out their 15-2 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: RF Starling Marte was out of the lineup for the second time in three games. He was scratched Saturday as a precaution when his troublesome right knee flared up, then played Sunday. New York manager Carlos Mendoza said Marte was fine, but was never going to play all three games on the turf in Texas. ... The team released catcher Tomás Nido.
Rangers: RHP Jacob deGrom threw 15 pitches off a mound for the first time since reconstructive surgery on his right elbow just more than a year ago. ... INF Josh Smith missed his fourth game in a row because of hamstring and glute tightness. “It’ll be another day or two before he hits the field,” Bochy said.
UP NEXT
Mets right-hander Luis Severino (4-2, 3.12 ERA) threw six scoreless innings for the Yankees in a win when he faced Texas last summer.
Rangers RHP Michael Lorenzen (4-3, 2.86) is 2-1 with a 1.46 ERA over his last six starts, allowing six earned runs in 37 innings.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb