Pete Alonso blasts two more homers as Mets drub Rockies

DENVER — At the conclusion of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Sunday afternoon, Pete Alonso stood on the leftfield foul line, hat over his heart. Across the diamond, Rockies reliever Zach Agnos did much the same.

Neither moved. Seconds passed, then minutes. Until finally, with first pitch drawing near, Agnos ceded, and Alonso celebrated with his signature leg kick.

The game hadn’t even started, and Alonso already was beating opposing pitchers.

Alonso homered in the third and eighth innings to match and then pass David Wright for the second-most home runs in Mets history as they walloped the Rockies, 13-5, at Coors Field to complete a three-game sweep. He also moved out of a tie with Darryl Strawberry with his franchise-leading 23rd multi-homer game.

“It’s really cool,” Alonso said of surpassing Wright. “It boils down to trying to do my part, trying to win every day. I’m very blessed to do so but I don’t think that’s going to settle in because we’re still in the middle of the season and [it’s like] OK, good game today . . . It’s just a focus on winning.”

The first baseman went 12-for-30 (.400) with five homers, two doubles and 15 RBIs on the seven-game road trip,. He was 3-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs on Sunday.

“I feel like he’s putting on a show every time he’s at the ballpark,” said Jeff McNeil, who also homered twice. “Pete’s been pretty incredible this year. He’s locked into every single at-bat . . . It just seems like in big situations, he’s going to do some damage. You feel like if you miss over the plate with him right now, he’s going to drive the ball over the fence. I love watching him play and I can’t wait for him to keep it up.”

Juan Soto reached base six times with three walks and three singles and Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez also homered as the Mets (42-24) collected 17 hits. They went 5-2 on this western road trip, which was part of a stretch of 10 straight games, and have the best record in the National League. At 18 games over .500, they matched last year’s high-water mark, set in September.

Tylor Megill allowed two runs, three hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five innings.

McNeil, who homered Saturday, repeated the feat in the second inning Sunday, blasting Chase Dollander’s full-count fastball to nearly the same place he did the night before. It went 411 feet to the home bullpen in right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Ronny Mauricio, moved up to sixth in the lineup, picked up where he left off, too. A day after going 2-for-4 with a 456-foot homer, he singled. Tyrone Taylor walked and Mauricio scored on Alvarez’s single.

Alonso’s first homer came in the third. With Soto on second, he drove Dollander’s cutter 416 feet to left, extending his on-base streak to 17 games.

“There’s a lot to like right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Whether it’s clutch, using the whole field, pull side, opposite, he’s just dominating pitches in the strike zone.

“That’s who he is. We know the power has always been there and know we’re looking at a really good hitter who knows his strength, and he’s taking advantage of a lot of mistakes.”

Taylor added an RBI double in the third and McNeil hit a three-run homer to right in the fourth for an 8-0 lead.

“He’s swinging with authority and not just trying to put the ball in play,” Mendoza said of McNeil. “There are a lot of different versions of Jeff, but this version is the one that we’re looking for.”

Sam Hilliard broke up Megill’s no-hitter with a leadoff double in the fifth and scored on Braxton Fulford’s single. Fulford scored on Jordan Beck’s double.

The Mets took a 10-2 lead on Baty’s two-run homer in the seventh. Hunter Goodman’s RBI single off Paul Blackburn cut that lead to 10-3 in the seventh.

Alonso added the exclamation point in the eighth, teeing off on Tyler Kinley’s fastball and smacking it 372 feet to left for a two-run homer. Alonso has 17 homers and an MLB-leading 61st RBIs.

Alvarez hit his second homer of the year, a solo shot, in the ninth. The Rockies scored two more off Blackburn in the bottom of the inning.

“He’s playing great baseball right now,” Megill said of Alonso. “He’s just continuously hitting. It’s very good to see. And as a pitcher, I love to have runs on the board when you’re out there, and he’s helping the team out tremendously.”

Notes & quotes:  Frankie Montas (lat) allowed three runs, four hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 3 2/3  innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday. He threw 76 pitches and allowed three homers. He also allowed four home runs in the rehab outing before this one. Mendoza said he will have at least one more.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.