Mets finally see Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso snap slumps as lineup catalysts

It took longer than the Mets wanted, but Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso have appeared to give up the funk.

While the bottom half of the lineup was relied upon for offense in Tuesday night's win, the Mets' superstar tandem atop the order finally packed a punch on Wednesday afternoon, driving in a combined five runs on four hits in a sweep of the Angels at Citi Field.

The first chunk of damage was inflicted in the third inning. With two on and nobody out, Lindor mercifully snapped a career-worst 0-for-31 skid with an RBI single to left that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.

Then, five pitches later, Alonso joined in on the fun, demolishing a fastball to left-center that struck the second deck for a 439-foot, three-run home run. It was the 248th blast of his career.

"I feel the love, it's definitely special," Lindor said of the fans' support after the win. "It makes you want to continue to go even harder, day in and day out. This city, this market makes you bring the best of yourself every day. And you can't take that for granted… Sorry I didn't put on a good show for them earlier.

"Stay the course, hopefully good things happen… I'm human. I don't want to go through [a slump], but I know I'm going to go through it. It sucks, put your head down and work. Try to get better… When you're good, you're good. When you suck, you suck. It is what it is."

Lindor collected his second hit of the game in the fourth, another RBI single to left that bumped the Mets' lead to 6-1. Alonso wrapped up his two-hit effort with a single to right in the seventh.

Some semblance of an awakening at the plate was inevitable for Lindor and Alonso, but their prolonged slumps naturally tested patience.

Lindor's first at-bat was a flyout to center, and with seven more hitless appearances, he would've surpassed Rey Ordóñez for the worst skid (0-for-37, set in 1997) in Mets history.

There was also a considerable power outage from Alonso. While he launched an emphatic three-run jack in the All-Star Game last week, his three-run bomb on Wednesday was his first regular-season homer since July 8.

It was the 22nd long ball of the year for Alonso, who's now four shy of tying Darryl Strawberry's record and five shy of becoming the Mets' all-time homers king.

Alonso entered July with a strong .291 average, but that marked dipped down to .270 before Wednesday's win due to a powerless 2-for-33 slide.

"That [homer] felt really good. I'm honestly more satisfied with the inside-out single in my last at-bat," Alonso said. "The homer obviously is super great, but personally, when I'm hitting the ball to the big part of the field, that's when I feel good… I just want to put my best foot forward every at-bat and give it my all."

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza stated the obvious on his invaluable infielders — their MVP-caliber production will allow the team to achieve the long-term goals set well before the regular season began.

"We're going to need those guys," Mendoza said. "We know they're going through it, but they're too good of a hitter. They're too good of a player. I'm glad they were able to come through for us today."

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