Alonso homers, drives in 4 as Mets hold off Phillies 8-6

NEW YORK (AP) — The last time Pete Alonso approached the plate, he never got near the batter’s box. Phillies manager Joe Girardi quickly held up four fingers for an intentional walk.

By then, it was too late.

Alonso homered, doubled and drove in four runs, taking over the major league RBIs lead and powering the New York Mets past Philadelphia 8-6 Friday night.

“He’s always a pitch away,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, adding, “he never stops pushing.”

Alonso has 45 RBIs this season and has especially battered the Phillies, with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 10 games against them.

The slugger tied the team record of 28 RBIs in the month of May set by Willie Montañez in 1978. Alonso gets four more games to match the Mets record for RBIs in any month, set by Hall of Famer Gary Carter with 34 in September 1985.

Alonso’s RBI are the most by Mets player before Memorial Day, topping Bernard Gilkey’s 44 in 1996.

“I’m just trying to capitalize on opportunities and just be as consistent as I can every day,” he said.

Alonso had a sacrifice fly in a three-run first, a two-run homer — his 12th — in the third and an RBI double in the fourth.

“We have just such a gritty approach. We’re not letting pitchers get away with mistakes and we’re just playing really good team ball right now,” he said.

Alonso also made a nifty diving stop at first to prevent Philadelphia from scoring early, one of six grounders he fielded for outs. And he caught pinch-hitter J.T. Realmuto’s foul popup to end the eighth with runners on second and third.

Down 7-0 to Carlos Carrasco, the Phillies made it close by scoring six times in the sixth inning, capped by Garrett Stubbs’ three-run homer.

Mets relievers Drew Smith, Joely Rodríguez, Seth Lugo and Edwin Díaz held on, helping the NL East leaders beat Philadelphia for the seventh time in 10 games this season. Díaz got his 11th save in 14 chances.

Shut out by Carrasco (5-1) on two hits going into the sixth, Philadelphia rallied. Infield hits by Rhys Hoskins and Alec Bohm set up RBI singles by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos.

A run-scoring grounder by Jean Segura and a two-out walk to Odúbel Herrera brought on lefty Chasen Shreve, and the lefty-hitting Stubbs lined a drive into the right-field seats.

Showalter said Carrasco jammed his thumb fielding a ball in the inning, but didn’t expect it to be a problem.

“We took advantage of some, you know, light hits — if you want to call it — and we made it work into six runs. Stubbs has a huge three-run homer and all of a sudden, we’re back in the game,” Girardi said. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to score after that.”

The Mets added a run in the bottom half on Starling Marte’s RBI grounder.

With storms all around Citi Field, the Phillies brought back Bailey Falter (0-2) from Triple-A to make the start. On his first pitch, Brandon Nimmo hit a routine grounder to rookie shortstop Bryson Stott, who threw it away for an error.

“I know everybody in here is putting in the work, it’s just not paying off,” Castellanos said.

THAT’S ENOUGH

The Phillies and Mets have a recent history of dustups over batters being hit by pitches, and they’ve already have had a couple of tense moments this season. After Segura was hit in the left hand by Carrasco in the top of the second, J.D. Davis nailed in the elbow by Falter’s first pitch in the bottom half. There were no more plunkings.

MOVES

Phillies: Struggling LHP José Alvarado was sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 27-year-old Alvarado was 0-1 with a 7.62 ERA in 17 games. Lefties were batting .333 against him.

Mets: Right-handed reliever Yoan López had his three-game suspension cut to one game and served the penalty. He was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse before the game and sat out. MLB ruled that he intentionally threw at Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber on May 1.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: SS Didi Gregorius (sprained knee) walked on the field before the game. He’ll need a rehab stint before returning, Girardi said.

Mets: OF Travis Jankowski is expected to miss 6-8 weeks because of a broken left hand. He had surgery and a screw was inserted. Showalter said Jankowski appeared to get hurt while making a diving catch. ... RHP Jacob deGrom (shoulder) threw on flat ground before the game. He will travel with the team when it begins a road trip to the West Coast in early June. The two-time Cy Young Award winner hasn’t pitched this season.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (1-3, 3.65 ERA) starts Saturday night. He is 3-5 with a 5.03 ERA in 14 career starts against the Mets.

Mets: RHP Taijuan Walker (2-0, 2.70) is trying for his first home win since last June 15.

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