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Mets' Pete Alonso gets another chance for big day vs. Nationals

MLB: Washington Nationals at New York MetsSep 17, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) hits a three-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Mets learned Tuesday night that trying to win games without Francisco Lindor is a lot easier when vintage Pete Alonso appears.

The Mets will look to continue solidifying their spot in the National League wild-card race by completing a sweep of the visiting Washington Nationals Wednesday night, when the NL East rivals conclude a three-game series.

Jose Quintana (9-9, 3.91 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow left-hander DJ Herz (4-7, 3.70 ERA).

Alonso homered and finished with five RBIs Tuesday as the Mets rolled to a 10-1 win.

The lopsided victory was part of a fruitful evening for the Mets (83-68), who moved two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the race for the third and final NL wild card by virtue of the Braves’ 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

New York also moved into a tie with Arizona for the second wild card thanks to the Diamondbacks’ 8-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies. The Mets have the tiebreaker against Arizona by winning the season series 4-3.

The best news for the Mets might have been a long-awaited breakout performance from Alonso, who hadn’t collected more than two RBIs in a game since Aug. 14. He hit .226 with six homers, 13 RBIs and 40 strikeouts in 106 at-bats over the subsequent 30 games.

Alonso was 4-for-11 without an extra base hit in the previous three games, a span in which the Mets scored just seven runs while Lindor was limited to one inning due to a sore back. But with Lindor watching from the bench again Tuesday, Alonso blooped a two-run single in the fourth inning before hitting a 375-foot, three-run homer in the sixth.

Alonso has 33 homers and 86 RBIs. Outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he has never finished with fewer than 37 homers or 94 RBIs in a season.

“He’s that type of player, he’s that type of hitter where he can carry a team, he can do damage,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s got the ability to get RBIs. Today was a good game for him.”

The defeat continued a frustrating series for the Nationals (68-83), who will finish with a losing record for the fifth straight season since winning the 2019 World Series. Washington lost its 1-0 lead in the eighth inning of Monday’s 2-1, 10-inning loss.

Rookie James Wood gave the Nationals a short-lived lead by beating out the back end of a potential double play ball in the fourth inning Tuesday, allowing a run to score for a 1-0 lead, but the first five Mets batters reached during a four-run bottom of the frame.

“Obviously, that’s not how we envisioned this game going,” Wood said. “But we’ve just got to be able to learn from it and take it into (Wednesday) and be better.”

Quintana earned the win in his most recent start last Friday, when he tossed seven scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-3. He is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in seven career starts against the Nationals, including a 1-0 record over 14 scoreless innings in two starts this season.

Herz also earned the win last Friday after giving up one run over five innings in the Nationals’ 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins. The rookie, who made his big league debut against the Mets on June 4, is 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA in two starts against New York.

–Field Level Media

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Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton

Soccer: FIFA Club World Cup 2025-Round of 16-Al Hilal FC at Manchester City[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images

Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.

City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.

As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.

Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.

“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”

City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.

Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.

Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.

And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.

“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”

The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.

Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.

–Field Level Media

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Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at New York YankeesMay 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.

The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.

Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.

Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.

Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.

Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.

Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.

The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.

Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.

Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.

Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.

Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.

The four-game series concludes Monday.

–Field Level Media

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Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox

MLB: Houston Astros at Boston Red SoxMay 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.

Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.

Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.

Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.

Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.

Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.

Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.

Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.

The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.

Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.

–Field Level Media

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