– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — J.D. Martinez’s red-hot bat had carried the New York Mets to their first two wins this weekend, and it proved so infectious that the top of the lineup caught the fever in the first inning, followed by the bottom of the lineup late, to close out the most impressive homestand of the season.
Pete Alonso hit a three-run home run as part of his five-RBI day, helping lead the Mets to a 11-6 victory over the San Diego Padres to complete a three-game sweep of the weekend series. Reserve catcher Luis Torrens hit a solo homer in the eighth to begin a four-run rally after the Padres had cut a 7-2 deficit down to just a run with four runs of their own in the top of the frame.
Martinez continued to rake, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the fourth inning, while Francisco Lindor hit his first leadoff home run of the season as New York has won five in a row and nine of their last 11 games.
The biggest beneficiary of Martinez and his good form was Alonso, batting immediately behind the former in the lineup. Alonso came in batting just .205 in the month of June, but had a chance early Sunday to come through in a big way after Lindor’s game-tying homer to lead off the game was followed by a Brandon Nimmo single and a walk to Martinez. Alonso then cracked the first pitch of the at-bat from Padres starter Dylan Cease into the bleachers in left-center field to give the Mets a 4-1 lead — all before an out was recorded.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by New York City-area photographer Chris Simon. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are six pictures in total.
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