NEW YORK — Pete Alonso homered and drove in five runs, Luisangel Acuña added his first major league longball to cap a huge night at the plate, and the New York Mets routed the Washington Nationals 10-1 on Tuesday to boost their chances in a close National League playoff race.
Tylor Megill (4-5) provided another terrific outing in place of injured starter Paul Blackburn, and Francisco Alvarez also went deep as the Mets improved to 10-2 against Washington this year.
New York is tied with Arizona for the second of three NL wild cards, two games ahead of rival Atlanta for the league's last postseason berth with 11 to play.
''I'm just really fired up because of the situation we've put ourselves in,'' Alonso said, explaining his passionate address to teammates during a meeting Monday in the wake of Francisco Lindor's injury last weekend. ''We control our own destiny.''
A roar went up in the crowd of 24,932 at Citi Field when the out-of-town scoreboard showed Cincinnati had polished off a 6-5 comeback victory over the Braves.
''I didn't know," Alonso said. "So someone told me that's what they were cheering about, but I thought someone was just getting rowdy like, chugging beers or something like that. I mean, people do that.''
Jose Iglesias had three of New York's 14 hits and scored twice, batting leadoff with Lindor sidelined by a sore back. The 22-year-old Acuña, subbing for the MVP contender at shortstop, finished a triple shy of the cycle and scored three times from the No. 9 spot in his fourth big league game and second start.
''He's a true pro so far and that's awesome to see,'' Alonso said.
