Rookie Pete Alonso hit one of three New York home runs in the sixth inning, and the Mets gained ground in the National League wild-card race with a 6-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night in Denver.
Amed Rosario and Brandon Nimmo also went deep to help New York end a two-game skid. Marcus Stroman (9-13) tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and a walk while fanning seven.
New York is now four games behind the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers for the second NL wild card with 11 games remaining.
Rosario and Alonso had two hits and two RBIs apiece, and Wilson Ramos and Todd Frazier also had two hits each for the Mets.
Charlie Blackmon homered and had two hits, and Sam Hilliard also had two hits for Colorado, which had won four straight before Stroman shut the door in his second start at Coors Field this season.
His first appearance in Denver occurred June 1, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays. Stroman took the loss in that game after allowing four runs (three earned) in seven innings. On Tuesday night, he allowed just Hilliard's two hits through the first five innings and allowed harmless singles in the sixth and seventh.
Colorado starter Tim Melville (2-3) matched Stroman for five innings before the Mets got to him in the sixth. Frazier led off with a sharp single to left, and Rosario homered to left-center to make it 2-0. It was Rosario's 13th of the season.
Stroman grounded out and then Nimmo hit the next pitch for his seventh of the season. It was the second straight game he has homered.
With two outs, Alonso crushed a ball 467 feet to center, his major-league-leading 48th home run, to make it 4-0 and chase Melville.
Melville allowed four runs on six hits and a walk while fanning two in 5 2/3 innings.
The Mets added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Blackmon hit a two-out homer off Luis Avilan in the ninth, his 29th, to spoil the shutout bid.
--Field Level Media
