#Mets’ bats erupt to take down Red Sox

BOSTON — America’s Most Beloved Ballpark deserved a group hug Monday night from the Mets.

After a weekend of futility offensively to start this season, the Mets arrived at Fenway Park desperate for a sign they were much better than the four runs they scored over three days in losing a series to the Braves. The new scenery, coupled with the underbelly of this Red Sox rotation, maybe helped offer reassurance for a night.

Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith all homered, leading a 7-4 victory that snapped the Mets’ two-game skid. That “outbreak” was more welcomed than the type discussed before the game, when Brandon Nimmo and manager Luis Rojas both projected a sense of optimism the Mets — through continued vigilance — can avoid the kind of fiasco facing the Marlins, who have at least 11 players that recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

A night after Rick Porcello’s brutal Mets debut, Michael Wacha provided much of what was needed. The right-hander won his Mets debut by limiting the Red Sox to one run on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts, departing after five innings and 77 pitches. Porcello on Sunday lasted only two innings and allowed seven runs, six of which were earned, in the Mets’ 14-1 loss to the Braves.

But this victory could have been smoother for the Mets, who watched the Red Sox — who trailed by seven runs at one point — claw within 7-4 after scoring twice against Jeurys Familia in the eighth. Familia’s ineffectiveness forced Rojas to summon Seth Lugo for a four-out save. It likely means the Mets won’t have Lugo on Tuesday. Familia’s shaky outing only underscored the need for the Mets to find dependable late-inning options, as the team tries to determine if Familia and Edwin Diaz in particular can be trusted to protect a lead.

Smith’s three-run homer in the fourth had turned it into a comfortable evening for the Mets, extending their lead to 7-0. The start was the first start of the season for Smith, after Yoenis Cespedes had played the previous three games at DH. Though Smith had an impressive summer camp, finding regular playing time for him might be a challenge for Rojas, who has Cespedes, J.D. Davis and Alonso entrenched in the lineup in the three spots in which Smith can start.

Alonso’s cardboard-cutout decapitating shot that left his bat at 116.3 mph and barely cleared the Green Monster in the third gave the Mets a 4-0 lead and might have jump-started the young season for the first baseman, who entered 1-for-11 and was getting beat on the fastball, according to Rojas, because he was overstriding. In his first at-bat, Alonso (facing Josh Osich) just missed and was retired on a long drive to center. But he didn’t miss on a 3-0 breaking ball from lefty Jeffrey Springs in his following plate appearance.

Conforto had started the barrage with a two-run blast in the second that landed in the Mets’ bullpen in deep right field. Davis had walked on a full-count cutter from Osich before Conforto jumped on a 2-1 pitch for his first homer.

Smith’s homer came in an inning Wilson Ramos doubled to deep center leading off and Robinson Cano walked. The Alonso three-run homer came after Nimmo reached on Xander Bogaerts’ error and Amed Rosario singled.