KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pete Alonso’s error at first base in the fourth inning led to Kansas City’s only run of the night on Saturday and put the Mets behind.
So when Alonso got a chance to come through for his teammates with the bases loaded in the seventh, he did not want to fail. After narrowly missing out on a grand slam, he settled for a two-run single that put Jacob deGrom and the Mets ahead in a 4-1 victory over the Royals.
“Definitely when guys are on base, it definitely helps me,” Alonso said. “Like, O.K., I put us in a little hole earlier in the game. This is a chance at redemption.”
DeGrom (8-7), last year’s National League Cy Young Award winner, gave up three hits while striking out five over seven innings. Since the All-Star break, he has permitted just five earned runs in 45 innings for a 1.00 E.R.A.
“That’s classic Jake deGrom,” Alonso said. “He’s our guy. He’s a Cy Young winner. Everything was on for him today, and having a guy like that go out there and pitch the way he did is huge.”
Alonso and Juan Lagares each finished with three hits. Lagares had a run-scoring triple in the eighth for the Mets, who are two games out in a crowded race for the second N.L. wild card.
The bottom three batters in the Mets’ lineup went 5 for 11 and combined to score all four runs.
“When they step up, you’re going to win games,” Mets Manager Mickey Callaway said. “Sometimes the top of your order will carry you, but the games that the bottom of the order does what they did tonight, it really helps you win.”
Royals starter Jakob Junis (8-11) allowed a one-out single to Lagares in the seventh and hit the No. 9 batter, Aaron Altherr, with a pitch. Manager Ned Yost brought in Jake Newberry, who walked Amed Rosario, loading the bases.
Yost again went to his bullpen, this time to the submarine left-hander Tim Hill. He struck out pinch-hitter J. D. Davis on three pitches but could not finish off Alonso, who barely missed a grand slam down the right field line when a crew chief review determined the ball had sliced just foul, upholding the initial call.
“Usually I have a pretty good look at it, but honestly, I had no idea,” Alonso said. “I just left it up to replay, and they thought it was foul. At that point, it’s really all I could do.”
With the runners going on a full-count pitch, Alonso then sent a grounder up the middle to drive in Lagares and Altherr for a 3-1 lead. Second baseman Whit Merrifield made a sliding stop in shallow center and fired home to try to get Altherr, but Hill cut off the throw.
“It was not the result I wanted,” Hill said. “I wanted a ground ball. I got the ground ball, weak contact. Just wish it would have been hit at somebody.”
In the bottom half, deGrom got out of trouble with the help of a double-play ball. Lagares’s triple to right field in the eighth drove in Luis Guillorme.
Justin Wilson threw a scoreless inning, and Seth Lugo worked a perfect ninth for his third save. Joe Panik hit a run-scoring single for the Mets in the fifth.
Junis dealt with traffic on the basepaths all night but managed to work around seven hits — all singles — a walk and two hit batters, allowing just three runs in six and a third innings. His defense turned two double plays behind him, helping him out of jams in the second and the fifth, but the Royals’ bullpen could not finish off the seventh inning for him.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t score more runs for him,” Yost said. “I thought he threw the ball extremely well.”
Hunter Dozier had two of Kansas City’s three hits, his second straight multihit game.