NEW YORK — Jesse Winker hit the fifth grand slam of his career, Phil Maton got out of a tight spot in the eighth inning and the upstart New York Mets reached a season-record seventh straight win on Wednesday night, beating the Boston Red Sox 8-3.
“It feels good, but there are still a lot of games left and a lot of good teams in the race,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
The Mets have won three games against Boston, which has lost six of its last seven games, and have now won 14 of its last 19 games, moving them to within half a game of Atlanta and securing the third wild-card spot in the NL.
“I feel like every game I’ve experienced here has had a playoff atmosphere because they’re so meaningful to us as a team,” said Winker, who was signed by the Washington Nationals on July 28.
New York had only four hits after Winker’s home run in the first inning against Tanner Houck (8-10), but relievers Alex Young, Huascar Brazobán and Danny Young (3-0) led to inning-ending double plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Harrison Bader broke up Rob Refsnyder’s pinch-hit single to center against Maton with two outs in the eighth inning. Refsnyder got to third base on Tyler O’Neill’s single before Maton took Masataka Yoshida out with a liner against a leaping Francisco Lindor.
“Of course, you can’t say enough good things about the defense,” Maton said.
The Mets scored four times on just one hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill combined for three consecutive walks with the bases loaded before Bader’s sacrifice fly.
“Right now it’s just about winning baseball games any way we can,” Winker said.
Lindor opened the game with a single and added a double in the fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to 15 games and tying the career high he set with Cleveland in 2018. He has also reached base in 33 consecutive games, which is his career high and matches the longest active streak in the major leagues.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora changed his lineup — Rafael Devers at second for the first time since May 7, Tyler O’Neill at fourth for the first time since May 1 and Triston Casas at sixth for the first time this season — hoping to spur a team that scored five runs in its last four games. But Boston’s second through sixth batters were a combined 1 for 15 with consecutive sacrifice flies in the third inning by Devers and Wilyer Abreu.
“We had traffic and didn’t get hurt,” said Cora. ”Another tough one.”
Jarren Duran hit an RBI double earlier in the third for the Red Sox, who fell to .500 at 70-70 for the first time since June 14, when they were 35-35 and 5 1/2 games behind Kansas City for the third AL wild card.
“We’re playing baseball with a .500 record,” Cora said. “I don’t think that’s good enough.”
Mets starter Tylor Megill allowed three runs in four innings.
Houck allowed five hits and had seven strikeouts in five innings. He had six consecutive strikeouts between the third and fifth innings.
TRAINING ROOM
Red Sox: SS Trevor Story (dislocated left shoulder) went 0 for 4 in his third rehab game with Triple-A Worcester. … RHP Liam Hendriks (Tommy John surgery) will pitch twice this week for Worcester. Cora said Hendriks has not had to pitch on back-to-back days during his rehab because he feels typical stiffness after surgery.
Mets: RHP Kodai Senga (left calf) threw 25 pitches in his first bullpen session Wednesday. Senga hopes to return from the 60-day injured list on Sept. 25 when he is eligible to play. … RHP Paul Blackburn (bruised right hand) felt good after his rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Syracuse and is expected to return to the major league rotation Monday for the series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Next
Red Sox: Boston returns home Friday to host the Chicago White Sox, who ended a 12-game losing streak by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 8-1 on Wednesday night. Neither team has announced its starter.
Mets: The Mets continue their six-game home series on Friday with LHP Sean Manaea (11-5, 3.35 ERA) returning from normal rest to face the Cincinnati Reds, who have not yet announced a starter.
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