September 18 – Pete Alonso drove in five runs for the host New York Mets on Tuesday and clinched their spot in the National League wild-card berth with a 10–1 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Alonso and rookie Luis Angel Acuna drove in three runs in the cycle for the Mets (83-68), who won the first two games of a three-game series and are tied for the second and third wild cards with Arizona’s Diamondbacks. Arizona lost to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
The Atlanta Braves fell behind by two games. The Braves, who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, blew a four-run lead in a 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
James Wood had an RBI and Dylan Cruz had three of the four hits for the Nationals (68-83), who fell to 7-8 for the month.
Wood gave the Nationals a brief lead on the back end of a potential double play off Tyler Magill (4-5) in the third inning.
Acuna and Alonso drove in four runs in the third against Mitchell Parker (7-10). Acuna got his first big league extra-base hit, an RBI double, then Alonso slammed a two-run single down the right field line. Mark Vientos followed with a sacrifice fly.
New York’s Francisco Álvarez hit a home run in the fourth inning and Tyrone Taylor had an RBI double in the fifth inning to make the score 6–1.
The Mets regained the lead in the seventh inning when Alonso hit a three-run home run, and in the eighth inning Acuña hit his first round-trip homer.
Alonso’s five RBIs tied for a season high, and he also drove in five runs in an 11-6 win over the San Diego Padres on June 16. His career highs are six RBIs and two runs.
New York’s Jose Iglesias had three hits, and Taylor and Starling Marte had two hits each.
Megill allowed one unearned run on two hits, two walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work.
Parker allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings while striking out one.
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