In his second game back from Triple A, Francisco Alvarez hit a game-tying home run that sparked the Mets to a 3-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday.
NEW YORK — Francisco Alvarez's swagger is back.
After returning from a monthlong stint with Triple-A Syracuse on Monday night, Alvarez has carried over the rekindled confidence that he found down below.
In the series opener, Alvarez's highlight came when a towering line drive slipped over the head of the Angels' Chris Taylor in right field. One night later, Alvarez left little doubt about the potential impact he could have back with the Mets.
With the Mets' offense in a rut early against the Angels' Kyle Hendricks on Tuesday, the Mets' young, motivated catcher tagged a game-tying two-run home run to left field that sent the Mets on their way to a 3-2 win in front of a sold-out crowd of 43,055 fans at Citi Field.
"I think the biggest thing for me is that we're winning and that we've already been able to win the series and tomorrow we have the chance to sweep," Alvarez said through an interpreter.
The Mets, donning their concrete gray City Connect uniforms for the third straight night, won their third straight game to nail down the series victory over the Angels and improve to 58-44.
Francisco Alvarez home run sparks Mets’ comeback win
When Mets leadership discussed Alvarez's time in Syracuse on Monday, they spoke of Alvarez's drive to regain his form down.
Alvarez did not sulk at the harsh news of his demotion. He used it as fuel and forced the Mets' hand quicker than they had expected. With 11 home runs in 19 games and a steady improvement behind the plate, Alvarez was in a better spot upon his return.
In the opener Monday, Alvarez went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, showing a refined patience at the plate, two runs and an eighth-inning double that allowed him to score the tying run in the comeback win.
And he kept that power surge going in the second game of the series.
In the fifth inning, Brett Baty lashed a double into the right-center field gap and Alvarez battled through a seven-pitch at-bat, including falling down 0-2, before pulling an inside fastball over the left-field wall to even the score for the Mets.
"I was patient and I went to go look for my pitch that I could hit," Alvarez said. "I didn't want to go out and swing and miss there."
As Alvarez rounded third, he let out a flex before skipping toward home plate to celebrate his first major-league home run since June 21.
Before the fifth inning the Mets only had one hit off Hendricks, a bloop single by Mark Vientos that fell in between Jo Adell and Luis Rengifo on a miscommunication in shallow center field.
Mets’ youthful boost at bottom of lineup
The bottom of the Mets' lineup, which earned a vote of confidence from David Stearns on Monday afternoon, carried the day. Mauricio singled up the middle and stole second base, setting the stage for Brandon Nimmo's go-ahead RBI single.
"We're gonna need all of them, and when we made the decision to send (Alvarez) back down, it was necessary at the time because we knew how important he is for this team, Carlos Mendoza said. "We needed him to get back on track, and it's hard to do it at the big league level when you're looking for results pretty much day in and day out."
It was a necessary lift given where the Mets stars were on Tuesday night.
Francisco Lindor continued his drought as he finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as his current hitless streak stretched to 30 at-bats - worst in his career. While Juan Soto walked three times, Pete Alonso was 0-for-4 with a strikeout as his own struggles stretched to 0-for-12.
That made the bottom of the lineup's fifth-inning boost all the more important.
"It's huge to be able to have the length in the lineup where you can't take a breath and you have to keep focusing on every pitch being in the perfect spot," Nimmo said. "It wears down on pitchers mentally. It's something that we've alluded to in the past of staying on the opposing team until the dam breaks."
Frankie Montas powers through danger
In the opening inning, Frankie Montas received a little lift from Juan Soto.
After Nolan Schanuel doubled down the left field line, the Angels first baseman attempted to score on a Mike Trout single into right field but he was thrown out on a one-hop throw from Soto to Alvarez at home plate.
The Angels struck first in the top of the second inning when Jorge Soler pulled a hanging slider over the left-field wall for a solo home run.
The Mets right-hander pitched with traffic through the majority of his outing but managed to strand six runners on base while scattering eight hits and two walks. He struck out six in 5⅔ innings to secure his third win of the season.
"Just not panicking and trying to keep making pitches," Montas said of working through trouble. "Keep attacking, keep throwing strikes and trying to keep free passes (down) and trying to be smart with my pitches.
Montas managed to record eight straight outs between the second and fifth innings before the Angels grew their lead to 2-0 on an RBI double by Schanuel the curled over first base. Montas halted the Angels' threat there, striking out Trout and getting Adell to fly out to center field with the bases loaded..=
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Francisco Alvarez home run sparks NY Mets’ comeback win over LA Angels
Category: Baseball
