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PHOENIX — Francisco Alvarez carried his bat almost to first base, flinging it in the air as the ball disappeared behind the right-field fence.
With two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night, the game was just getting started for the Mets, who rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, extending their winning streak to four games.
Alvarez’s tying homer and Mark Canha’s subsequent RBI triple resurrected a team that, beyond its starting pitcher, barely had shown a pulse all night.
Kodai Senga fired eight dominant innings and matched a career high with 12 strikeouts, but was in position for the loss as Alvarez faced a full-count pitch from lefty Andrew Chafin with two outs in the ninth.
Alvarez hit a fly to right that kept going for his 15th homer of the season and his second in as many games.
“The way I think about it is, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ ” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “The worst that could happen is we lose the game, so I go out there and … try to give the best of myself. It’s really the adrenaline that really heightens that moment for me.”
Brett Baty followed with a single before Canha gave the Mets the lead with a shot that bounced near the 410-foot sign in center field and rebounded for a go-ahead RBI triple.
“Walking up to the plate there it’s a huge weight off your shoulders when somebody ties the game,” Canha said. “When you have a tie game and you are trying to win it, it feels like you are playing with house money a little bit more. That was big on [Alvarez’s] part and I give him a lot of credit.”
David Robertson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 13th save and second in as many games, following Senga’s longest outing as a major leaguer. Robertson’s perfect inning included a comebacker off his leg that deflected directly to Pete Alonso at first base for the second out.
With the victory, the Mets (40-46) won a second straight series after going more than a month without a series victory.
It also moved the Mets to 6 1/2 games out of the last wild card spot after ending June 10 games back.
Senga took a shutout into the seventh, when Christian Walker crushed the right-hander’s second pitch of the inning into the left-field seats for the Diamondbacks’ only run. Walker jumped on a hanging slider for the home run, the 10th allowed by Senga this season. But Senga retired the next three batters and returned for a perfect eighth inning, finishing at 107 pitches.
“With the All-Star break coming up I knew I had a lot of days off and wanted to work deep into the game,” Senga said through his interpreter. “To do that is special.”
Senga was in the dugout as the Mets’ ninth-inning rally unfolded.
“It was amazing,” Senga said. “Being in that atmosphere and feeling the vibes, I know what we are capable of and doing that is awesome.”
Manager Buck Showalter pointed to the “little things” that helped the Mets finish the job.
“Like [Baty] sticking his nose in there and rolling that ball into right field to set up that last run,” Showalter said. “[Alvarez’s] is the one that got it all going and gave us positive vibes. It reminded everybody of a lot of things we did last year and have done a little bit this year, but not as much.”
The Mets wasted early opportunities. In the second inning, Starling Marte was thrown out attempting to reach second on Jeff McNeil’s fly-out to center, completing an inning-ending double play. Canha drew a two-out walk in the third and was left stranded before the Mets had their first semblance of a rally in the fourth, getting a leadoff single from Pham before Marte was intentionally walked with two outs. Pham and Marte executed a double steal, but McNeil grounded out to end the inning.
Baty and Canha walked in succession in the fifth before lefty Tommy Henry fell behind 3-0 to Brandon Nimmo. After Nimmo took a strike, he was retired on a pop up. Henry escaped by getting Tommy Pham to line to third for the final out.
Senga allowed bloop singles to Geraldo Perdomo and Carroll in the first inning before he got Walker to hit into an inning-ending double play. Walker walked and stole second with two outs in the fourth, but was left stranded when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. whiffed for Senga’s third strikeout in the inning.
Jake McCarthy singled off McNeil’s glove and stole second base in the fifth, but following two strikeouts, Senga retired Alek Thomas on a drive to the right-center gap that Nimmo caught on the run.
Henry allowed two hits and four walks over six shutout innings with two strikeouts. It marked the second time this season the left-hander has pitched at least six innings without allowing a run.
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