Mets’ Alonso breaks NL rookie HR record
KANSAS CITY, MO. >> Pete Alonso hit his 40th home run to break the National League rookie record, capping a late outburst by the New York Mets in their 11-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Michael Conforto hit a long homer in the first inning and drove in four runs. Amed Rosario put the Mets ahead 6-4 with a two-run single in the seventh, and Alonso went deep in the ninth on an 0-2 pitch. He snapped a tie with Cody Bellinger, who launched 39 long balls for the Dodgers in 2017 on the way to winning Rookie of the Year honors.
Back in the thick of a crowded NL wild-card race thanks to a secondhalf surge, New York completed a 3-3 road trip and improved to 24-10 since the All-Star break.
Alonso also had an RBI double and scored three times during his second consecutive three-hit game. Rosario had three hits and three RBIs in the leadoff spot, and Joe Panik added three hits as the top four batters in the Mets’ lineup combined to go 11 for 18 with nine RBIs and seven runs.
New York scored six times in the seventh to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 9-4 lead. J.D. Davis tied it with a pinch-hit RBI single and Rosario had the go-ahead single two batters later. Alonso, Conforto and Wilson Ramos added RBI base hits later in the inning. BRAVES 5, DODGERS 3 ATLANTA >> With All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. banished for his lack of hustle, Rafael Ortega stepped up with a sixth-inning grand slam to lift the Atlanta Braves to a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Acuña was pulled before the fifth inning after failing to run out a drive off the right field wall in the third. The ball bounced off the wall for a long single. The 21-year-old Acuña likely would have had an easy double if he had hustled from home plate. NATIONALS 16, BREWERS 8 WASHINGTON >> The Nationals matched a team record with eight home runs — including two by Juan Soto — in a rout of the Milwaukee Brewers as Washington took two of three from a fellow contender in the NL playoff race.
CARDINALS 5, REDS 4 CINCINNATI >> Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer, Tommy Edman added a solo shot among his three hits and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Cincinnati Reds to split their four-game series.
RED SOX 13, ORIOLES 7 BOSTON >> Rafael Devers went 4 for 5 with a homer, two doubles and four RBIs, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from an early six-run deficit for a victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
MARINERS 7, BLUE JAYS 0 TORONTO >> Yusei Kikuchi pitched his first shutout in the major leagues, throwing a two-hitter that led the Seattle Mariners over the Toronto Blue Jays.
RAYS 5, TIGERS 4 TAMPA, FLA. >> Ji-Man Choi’s two-run single in the bottom of the ninth completed a rally from a late three-run deficit and gave the Tampa Bay Rays a victory over the Detroit Tigers.
ASTROS 4, ATHLETICS 1 OAKLAND, CALIF. >> Zack Greinke threw seven smooth innings for his 200th win, pitching the first-place Houston Astros past the Oakland Athletics to avoid a four-game sweep.
TWINS 6, RANGERS 3 ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> Jorge Polanco cleared the bases with a tiebreaking triple in the eighth inning, helping the Minnesota Twins to their first-ever four-game sweep of Texas.
ANGELS 9, WHITE SOX 2 ANAHEIM, CALIF. >> Shohei Ohtani, Kole Calhoun, Matt Thaiss and Anthony Bemboom all homered to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a victory over the Chicago White Sox.