Pete Alonso reaches four times, Juan Soto homers in Mets' 5-1 win over Twins

The Mets opened the series with a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night at Target Field.

Here are some takeaways…

– Clay Holmes was a punchout machine during his last outing against the Marlins, and he picked up right where he left off to open this one. The big right-hander was on cruise control his first time through the order, striking out six while allowing just one hit over three efficient innings.

Holmes ran into some trouble in the fourth, as Matt Wallner crushed a two-out triple off the right field wall, but he was able to get Carlos Correa to line out to end the inning. Things spiraled on him a bit in the fifth, as two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, but he settled down nicely and escaped with just one run allowed on a sacrifice fly.

Holmes finished his night with just that one run against on two hits, while walking two and striking out eight in five strong innings. While he isn’t working deep into games just yet, he has now punched out six or more batters in each of his last three starts and has a 3.66 ERA on the year.

– Pete Alonso has been in the middle of everything early for the Mets, and he got the scoring started in this one. The big man drove in Luisangel Acuña with a two-out single in the top of the third to make it a 1-0 game, and he now sits second in the National League with 19 RBI. He’s also hitting .450 (9-for-20) with RISP on the season.

Alonso went on to reached base in four of his five plate appearances, giving him a .345 average and 1.137 OPS.

– Acuña enjoyed a strong day at the plate as well, reaching base three times with a walk, double, and a bunt hit. With Jeff McNeil working his way back from an oblique injury, the young infielder has been heating up, as he’s now riding a four-game hitting streak.

– Mark Vientos is finally starting to come out of his slump to start the season. He drove in Alonso with a double in the top of the sixth, giving him a run-scoring extra base-hit in back-to-back games. He scored a few pitches later when Luis Torrens reached on an error.

– Juan Soto had also been stuck in a bit of a rut at the plate — until his fourth at-bat of the night, when he crushed a two-run homer to deep right-center. It was his second homer of the season, first hit with a runner in scoring position on the year, and first extra base-hit since April 7.

– The Mets’ bullpen continues getting the job behind their starters. Huascar Brazoban put together two hitless innings of work, Reed Garrett struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 eighth, and Ryne Stanek put the finishing touches on the victory in the ninth.

– New York picked up their second straight win, but still finished an ugly 2-for-12 with RISP.

Game MVP: Clay Holmes

Holmes could’ve easily let things get out of control in the fifth, but he settled in and limited the damage.

Highlights

Whats next

Tylor Megill (2-1, 0.63 ERA) takes the mound against Bailey Ober (0-1, 7.11 ERA) as the series continues in Minnesota on Tuesday at 7:40 p.m.

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