Mets stars shine, NY saves season with 7-3 win over Padres

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save the New York Mets’ season with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece. Francisco Lindor also went deep, Jeff McNeil laced a critical two-run double and All-Star closer Edwin Díaz entered much earlier than usual to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning. New York broke it open by scoring four times in the bottom half, keyed by McNeil’s bases-loaded double. Seth Lugo retired cleanup hitter Josh Bell with the bases loaded for a save, ending a game that took 4 hours, 13 minutes.