NY Mets hit 4 home runs in win over Philadelphia Phillies

NEW YORK — Luis Severino took the field for the Mets on Thursday night, and Sean Manaea was the goalie for the “OMG” sign in the dugout.

On his nights off, Manaea quickly became a busy man, celebrating with the orange and blue symbol that has become synonymous with celebrating the team’s home runs.

The Mets crushed Taijuan Walker with four home runs in 3⅓ innings to open a 10-6 victory over the Major League Baseball-leading Phillies in front of 35,982 fans Wednesday night at Citi Field.

“I would say controlled aggression today,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We were able to get into some good pitches to strike out, but a lot of guys walked and passed the bat like they were supposed to. I thought we controlled the zone well and hit some balls that were in the middle of the zone, and some of those were really good throws by the pitcher.”

For the first time in franchise history, the Mets scored 10 or more runs in three consecutive games. The Mets hit nine homeruns during that span.

For the past few days, Mets players, including Nimmo, have been pleading with fans to help provide them with energy. Despite the absence of star shortstop Francisco Lindor, the Mets have used that positivity to score 10 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.

The win extended their winning streak to four games and maintained a two-game lead in the National League wild-card race, with both the Braves and Diamondbacks winning.

“I think we did a great job of responding to the challenge, especially at the end of the year,” Pete Alonso said. “That’s where we are, but we just have to finish. We just have to finish the regular season.”

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The Mets were quick to get their home crowd excited about playing in the game against Walker.

In the bottom of the first inning, Mark Vientos hit a solo home run over the left-field fence and Pete Alonso blasted a home run into right-center field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. It was the sixth time this season that the Mets had back-to-back home runs.

“Anytime you get an early lead against a good opponent, it’s important,” Alonso said. “Our pitchers did a great job of keeping that lead, and we did a great job of adding to it. It was a total team win.”

After Trea Turner hit the tying home run off Severino in the top of the third inning, the Mets mounted an immediate response when Nimmo hit a two-run home run to center field in the next half of the inning.

Three members of the Mets’ lineup — Jose Iglesias, Nimmo and Vientos — each had two hits. It was Nimmo’s second straight night with a home run. Iglesias extended his hit streak to 13 games. Vientos snapped a 3-for-38 streak with four hits in his last two games.

The Mets jumped ahead for the second straight year, bypassing their own lineup in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Francisco Alvarez hit a three-run home run — his fourth in eight games — into the second level in left field to help Walker exit the game. Nimmo hit an RBI double to right field and Vientos hit an RBI single up the middle to help extend the Mets’ lead to 9-3. The Mets scored five runs in the frame on four hits, three walks and a hit by a pitch.

“We know we’re good and we’ve said it, guys are going to fall and they’re going to continue to improve,” Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s what we’ve seen the last few days and it seems like a different guy every night and tonight, a lot of guys.”

After the Phillies pulled to 9-6 with a three-run home run off Danny Young, the Mets got another boost from Luisangel Acuna, who scored for the third straight game with an RBI triple into the gap between right and center field.

Luis Severino delivers

The “OMG” sign also became the centerpiece of a new celebration for Mets pitchers.

While the Mets starting pitcher waits for a handshake from the coaching staff that day, the rest of the rotation awaits his arrival to jump up and down and celebrate a job well done.

There has been plenty of that buzz for the Mets starters in recent weeks. Severino was the latest to earn the praise Thursday night, as he allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven in six innings.

“We value players a lot, so we started thinking, ‘We need to value pitchers when they do a good job, too,’” Severino said.

It was Severino’s fourth consecutive successful start, making up for his loss in his last game against the Phillies on September 14.

The veteran right-handed pitcher gave up a home run to Turner and an RBI single to Brandon Marsh in the fourth inning, but recovered and struck out seven straight to end his outing and help the Mets extend their lead.

“He had to fight. He was good in terms of stuff, but they made him work hard,” Mendoza said. “There were some long at-bats. We didn’t play the foul ball that came down. I felt like he got tired, but he found a way to get us through six innings.”