Francisco Alvarez Supplied the Swing That Turned the Rangers-Mets Game

Francisco Alvarez came to bat in the sixth with Carson Benge and Marcus Semien on base and the Mets trailing by a run. His double scored them both. A Texas lead that had survived since the fourth was gone, and New York was on its way to a 6-3 victory at Globe Life Field.

For followers of the Rangers, the North Texas regional club, that was the inning that changed the night’s temperature. Texas had answered New York’s early punch and built a one-run lead. Then the Mets put two runners on against Nathan Eovaldi, and Alvarez punished the opening with a sharp fly ball to center.

Carson Benge and Marcus Semien scored, leaving Texas to chase a game it had briefly controlled.

Alvarez’s influence reached beyond the decisive hit. The Mets designated hitter also scored their first run in the third inning, giving him a role in both of New York’s most important scoring turns: he created the early lead with a double and later restored it with another one.

He began the third with a sharp line-drive double against MacKenzie Gore. After A.J. Ewing flew out, Luis Torrens grounded out, advancing Alvarez to third. Francisco Lindor then walked, putting another runner aboard before Juan Soto singled Alvarez home. New York led 1-0, and Alvarez had supplied the extra-base hit that made the inning possible, even though Soto delivered the official RBI.

Texas responded in the bottom half. Danny Jansen walked, and Josh Jung doubled him home. The Rangers then moved ahead in the fourth through a more methodical sequence: Brandon Nimmo singled, Ezequiel Duran walked and Justin Foscue was hit by a pitch. Elias Díaz followed with a sacrifice fly, and Wyatt Langford added another, producing a 3-2 Texas lead.

The distinction matters because Texas also committed a defensive error in the fourth. Nimmo’s misplay in right allowed Benge to score in the top half, but it did not cause the Rangers’ two-run response. Texas built that lead by creating traffic and cashing in with productive outs.

For several innings, that approach was enough to make the Mets’ lineup look less imposing than its collection of names suggested.

Then Alvarez removed the uncertainty.

Brett Baty opened the sixth with a double, Benge walked and Semien’s forceout left runners at first and second. Alvarez’s double brought both home, putting New York in front 4-3. The hit was damaging in the obvious way—two runs—but also strategically important in the simplest baseball sense: it left Alvarez at second with a chance to score again.

A.J. Ewing’s ensuing single moved Alvarez to third. Torrens then lifted a sacrifice fly to first baseman Jake Burger in foul territory, bringing Alvarez home and extending the Mets’ lead to 5-3.

Torrens deserves more than a passing mention here. His 0-for-3 line looks quiet, but the Mets catcher helped move Alvarez to third in the third inning and then drove him home in the sixth. Those plays lacked the visual drama of Alvarez’s doubles, yet they connected the important pieces of New York’s offense.

Torrens did not deliver the loudest blow. He delivered the run that turned a one-run lead into a more useful two-run cushion.

That cushion was not decorative. Texas had already scored three runs, and the game was still within reach after Alvarez’s double. The extra run gave New York’s pitchers room to work, while Benge added another in the seventh with a double that scored Baty.

The Mets’ pitching made those runs stand. Sean Manaea worked six innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out nine and walking two. Nate Lavender, Dedniel Núñez and Kodai Senga each completed a scoreless inning to finish the game.

Senga did allow a hit batter in the ninth, but Texas did not turn it into a rally. The Rangers finished with three hits; New York had 10.

Texas was not overwhelmed from the opening pitch. Gore allowed one earned run over five innings, and Jung’s third-inning double helped generate the first answer. But Eovaldi’s sixth inning became the decisive weakness: Baty doubled, Benge reached, Semien advanced the situation, and Alvarez turned it into the lead.

Alvarez reached second with New York ahead 4-3. Ewing’s single moved him to third; Torrens’ sacrifice fly brought him home. The go-ahead hit was impressive enough. Scoring its author made the inning much harder for Texas to answer.

Sources

Official MLB game record

Official MLB play-by-play and box score