J.D. Martinez, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez all homered in the third inning Friday night for the host New York Mets, who continued their surge with an 8-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the second game of their four-game series.
The Mets extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 15-7 this month as they moved ahead of the Braves in the race for the National League’s first wild-card berth. New York has gained six games on Atlanta since July 1.
The Braves took their season-high sixth straight loss and fell to 8-12 in July.
Adam Duvall clubbed two home runs for the Braves, starting with a two-run shot in the second inning against Mets starter Kodai Senga (1-0). The right-hander was making his season debut after sustaining a shoulder injury in February.
Atlanta’s 2-0 lead disappeared in the third inning, as the Mets sent 10 batters to the plate against Braves starter Charlie Morton (5-6) and Daysbel Hernandez and scored seven runs.
The inning began with Tyrone Taylor reaching on an error by third baseman Austin Riley, and Morton plunked Francisco Lindor and walked Brandon Nimmo. Martinez then launched a grand slam just beyond the right field wall.
Jeff McNeil doubled one out later before Vientos homered. Morton retired Jose Iglesias on a grounder but surrendered Alvarez’s blast into the second deck in left. Hernandez entered to get Taylor to fly out.
The Mets added a run in the fourth when Hernandez walked Vientos with the bases loaded.
Martinez finished with three hits and Vientos with two of New York’s eight.
Senga allowed the two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 5 1/3 innings. He exited after suffering a left calf strain following Riley’s sixth-inning pop-up. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that Senga would get an MRI exam on the calf on Saturday.
Marcell Ozuna had two hits, including a solo homer in the sixth-inning homer, and reached base three times for the Braves. Ozuna has 29 homers this season, second in the NL. Duvall homered off Jake Diekman leading off the ninth, giving him 10.
Morton was charged with seven runs (five earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out two over a season-low 2 2/3 innings.
