NEW YORK (AP) - When it comes to All-Star first basemen, Pete Alonso and Luke Voit are on track to become New York’s power couple.
Alonso hit a three-run homer in the first inning off an ineffective James Paxton, J.D. Davis and Carlos Gómez also went deep, and the Mets beat the Yankees 10-4 Tuesday for a split of their day-night Subway Series doubleheader.
Alonso’s home run was his 22nd, the second-most for an NL rookie before the All-Star break, trailing only Cody Bellinger’s 25 for the Los Angeles Dodgers two years ago. The drive on Paxton’s eighth pitch of the at-bat and 11th pitch of the night left the stadium almost as quiet as it was in the afternoon, when the stands were about a quarter full at the start for the makeup of Monday night’s rainout.
Voit hit a three-run homer off Zack Wheeler in a five-run fourth inning as the Yankees overcame a three-run deficit to win the opener 12-5. After falling out of the AL East lead for the first time since the morning of May 19, the Yankees (41-25) moved back into a tie with Tampa Bay atop the division.
Both first basemen experienced their first Subway Series featuring fulminating fans.
“I thought this was a blast,” the 24-year-old Alonso said. “I’m really looking forward to the ones at Citi Field. This environment was nuts.”
Voit was demoted to Double-A by the St. Louis Cardinals a year ago this week. Now he’s vying for a spot in the All-Star Home Run Derby.
“It’s crazy, man,” he said.
Voit has 30 home runs in 103 games since the Yankees acquired him July 28 for pitchers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos. The 28-year-old took over at first base from the repeatedly injured Greg Bird and has 16 homers this year. He is the leader at his position in the first results of fan voting for All-Star starters.
“This team is giving me a lot of confidence to go out and do my job every day,” he said. “It’s just having fun in the locker room. I never feel like I’m a deadbeat.”
He made his big league debut with St. Louis in 2017 but was behind Matt Carpenter and then José Martinez.
“There’s nothing worse than when you’re in the minor leagues and you’re hitting good, too, and you’re just stuck,” he said. “There’s been multiple guys throughout the history of baseball that have been in that same situation, and for me to finally get a chance, you don’t want to ever look back on it and you want to roll with it.”
Gio Urshela hit a tying, two-run homer in the five-run fourth, had four RBIs and was a triple short of the cycle, ending a stretch of 15 at-bats without a hit. Gary Sánchez had three RBIs and tied for the AL lead with his 20th home run .
Masahiro Tanaka (4-5) gave up a three-run homer to Jeff McNeil that put the Mets ahead 4-1 in the third but rebounded to win for the first time in a month. Pitching on six days’ rest after the birth of his daughter Friday and the rainout, Tanaka allowed five runs - four earned - in 6 2/3 innings.
Wheeler (5-4) gave up a career-high nine runs - five earned - in 4 2/3 innings. He has not won consecutive starts this year, and his 13 home runs allowed are one shy of his 2018 total.
“My slider wasn’t very good today. The changeup wasn’t really working,” Wheeler said. “The fastball was about the only thing going for me.”
Coming off a five-hit shutout of San Francisco, Jason Vargas (3-3) extended his scoreless streak to 17 innings in the night game before the Yankees closed to 6-3 in the third. Davis hit a two-run homer off Chance Adams in the fourth, and the Yankees put two on with one out in the bottom half when Vargas found a groove and retired his last eight batters.
“I think that third inning got them fairly aggressive, and we were able to get back in the rhythm of things, making pitches down in the strike zone,” Vargas said.
The Mets (33-34), who have not been over .500 since May 3, won for only the fifth time in their last 23 road games.
Paxton (3-3) remained winless in three starts since a trip to the injured list caused by left knee inflammation. He gave up a season-high six runs, seven hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings, departing after RBI singles from Michael Conforto, Wilson Ramos and Adeiny Hechavarría.
“I’ve dealt with failure before, and I’ll bounce back like I have before,” Paxton said.
WEB GEM
Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner made a sprawling backhand catch on McNeil leading off the opener.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: 2B Robinson Canó (left quadriceps) was 3 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Syracuse, OF Brandon Nimmo (neck) was 0 for 3 with two walks, and LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) allowed one hit in a scoreless first. … RHP Noah Syndergaard left before the opener because of strep throat.
Yankees: OF-DH Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 with a solo home run as the DH for Class A Tampa in a doubleheader opener and could rejoin the Yankees on Monday. … RF Aaron Judge could start a rehab assignment this weekend with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … RHP Dellin Betances strained his lat muscle while pitching to batters in a simulated game Friday and won’t throw for a few weeks. … RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (right shoulder strain) threw on flat ground for the first time since May 9.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (3-6) starts Thursday when the Mets start a homestand against St. Louis and RHP Jack Flaherty (4-3).
Yankees: LHP J.A. Happ (6-3) opens a series Thursday against the Chicago White Sox and RHP Iván Nova (3-5).
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