Ronny Mauricio gets 1st big league HR in Mets’ victory over Diamondbacks
NEW YORK — The David Stearns era is off to a strong start for the Mets.
Hours after the Daily News confirmed the team is hiring Stearns as its president of baseball operations, the Mets delivered a well-rounded 7-4 win Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field.
Ronny Mauricio, the 22-year-old sensation who debuted with the Mets this month, slugged the first home run of his career — a tie-breaking, two-run blast in the fourth inning that put the Mets up for good.
The Mets also got a big swing Tuesday from star slugger Pete Alonso, who crushed a two-run shot in the fifth inning for his 44th homer of the year.
Alonso’s future with the Mets is among the biggest decisions facing Stearns, a touted ex-Brewers executive who took Milwaukee to the playoffs four times during his tenures as general manager and president.
The 28-year-old Alonso is set to become a free agent after the 2024 season and has been the subject of trade rumors after the retooling Mets (66-78) moved veterans including Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer midseason. Alonso is the only Met ever with multiple 40-homer seasons — he has three — and one of four players in team history with a trio of 100-RBI campaigns.
The 38-year-old Stearns, a New York City native who grew up cheering for the Mets, has served in an advisory role for Milwaukee since stepping down as Brewers president last year. He’s long been linked to the Mets, whose owner, Steve Cohen, has been open about his desire to add a president of baseball ops atop a front office that employs Billy Eppler as general manager.
Mauricio has been a hit machine since his Sept. 1 call-up, batting .306 with at least one base knock in eight of his 10on games. The past two nights, he’s emerged as a run-producer, too. Tuesday marked Maurcio’s second straight game with two RBI after the infielder only drove in one run across his first eight MLB contests.
His 440-foot home run against Arizona’s Ryne Nelson came in support of Mets starter Jose Butto, who struck out seven over five innings and only surrendered one run. Butto, 25, picked up the first win of his career in what was his seventh MLB game.
Brandon Nimmo also had a big game for the Mets, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, while rookie Francisco Alvarez hit his 23rd home run of the season.
The Mets lost Monday’s opener in their four-game series against the Diamondbacks (76-70), who are clinging to the third and final NL Wild Card spot. Joey Lucchesi (2-0, 3.54 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Wednesday for the Mets against Arizona’s Zac Gallen (15-7, 3.31 ERA), the NL’s All-Star Game starter and a frontrunner for the league’s Cy Young Award.
