Álvarez three-run HR in 9th, Alonso three-run HR in 10th give Mets 8-7 comeback win over Rays

NEW YORK – Francisco Álvarez hit a tying three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Pete Alonso hit a game-ending three-run shot in the 10th, giving the New York Mets an improbable 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

New York trailed 2-0 before Mark Vientos, a rookie brought up from the minors for his season debut, tied the score with a two-run homer in the seventh off side-armer Ryan Thompson.

Brandon Lowe put the Rays back ahead with a two-run homer off Adam Ottavino in a three-run eighth that built a 5-2 lead.

Álvarez homered on a sweeper from Jason Adam, a 426-foot shot off the facing of the left-field second deck, to send the game into extra innings. The Rays opened a 7-5 lead when pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez and Josh Lowe had run-scoring singles in the 10th against David Robertson (1-0).

Jeff McNeil singled off Pete Fairbanks (0-1) leading off the bottom half, and Alonso pulled a fastball into the left-field second deck for his 15th home run of the season, sending the Mets running onto the field following their first walk-off win this season. It was the fourth career walk-off homer for Alonso, and the Mets won for the first time this year in a game they trailed by three runs.

New York and the major league-best Rays meet Thursday in the rubber game of the series as the Mets try to stop a streak of six straight series losses.

Tampa Bay stole seven bases. Wander Franco and Taylor Walls stole two each, and Randy Arozarena, Luke Raley and Josh Lowe one apiece.

Isaac Paredes hit an RBI double in the fourth for the Rays off an otherwise overpowering Kodai Senga, who struck out a season-high 12. Jose Siri boosted the lead to 2-0 when he homered for the second straight night, a seventh-inning drive off Jeff Brigham.

Senga allowed three hits and three walks as his family arrived from Japan and watched him pitch for the first time this season. His strikeouts, the most by a Mets rookie since Noah Syndergaard in 2015, prompted fans in the left-field seats to hang 12 ghost posters, a nod to his ghost forkball.

Siri drew boos from Citi Field fans during his home run trot. He raised his right arm, index and pinkie fingers extended, after passing second base and pulled his left jersey sleeve up while heading home, irking the crowd.

Rays starter Josh Fleming allowed three hits in five scoreless innings.

WEB GEM

Siri made a backhand grab in center on a full sprint to rob Jeff McNeil of an extra-base hit starting the sixth.

FALLING BEHIND

New York opponents have scored first in 29 of 44 games.

MOVES

RHP Yonny Chirinos was optioned to Triple-A Durham and the Rays selected the contract of RHP Zack Burdi from the Bulls. RHP Javier Guerra cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Durham.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: RHP Tyler Glasnow (left oblique) probably will get one more minor league rehabilitation start before he’s activated from the IL. … 1B Yandy Díaz (left groin) likely will return for Friday’s homestand opener against Milwaukee.

UP NEXT

Tampa Bay will bring up RHP Taj Bradley (3-0, 3.52 ERA) from Durham to start Thursday’s series finale. He beat Boston, Houston and Cincinnati in April. RHP Tylor Megill (4-2, 4.02) starts for the Mets.

NEW YORK — With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.

A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game set for Brooklyn were also called off Wednesday amid hazy conditions that have raised alarms from health authorities.

The New York Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader starting at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Detroit Tigers was reset for 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, originally a day off for both teams.

“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” MLB said in a statement.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for New York City, saying: “the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.” In Philadelphia, the NWS issued a Code Red.

The Yankees and White Sox played through a lesser haze on Tuesday night. A day later, stadium workers and fans arriving early to the ballpark wore face masks for protection in a scene reminiscent of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was business as usual for me coming in. I got in around 12, 12:30, and didn’t really think too much of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I actually walked outside about 2 o’clock and was like – like everyone else, like – whoa.”

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol thought MLB made the right decision postponing the game.

“These are health issues, right? So this has got to be it. We’ve been through everything – snow, rain, hail. I don’t think I’ve been through something like this,” he said. “Today at one point, it was pretty bad out there. We walked out of the dugout and it was kind of orange. They did the right thing. They got all the information.

“I’m assuming if Major League Baseball is comfortable setting up a doubleheader tomorrow, they have some type of information that it should be better than what it is today, or at least safe.”

In Philadelphia, the Phillies beat the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday night in a game played in hazy conditions with the smell of smoke in the air. Afterward, manager Rob Thomson and his Phillies players said the conditions didn’t affect them.

About a half-hour before Wednesday’s postponement, Thomson said he thought the game would be played. But the Philadelphia skyline could not be seen from the ballpark in the afternoon, and the smoky smell remained.

Minor league teams nearby also changed plans. The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, and the Mets’ top farm club in Syracuse, New York, postponed their games for the second consecutive night.

The Mets’ High-A affiliate in Brooklyn completed a game Wednesday against Greenville that began at 11 a.m.

The WNBA called off a game between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, saying the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our fans, teams and community.” A makeup date wasn’t immediately announced.

Even inside Barclays Center at the morning shootaround, reporters could smell smoke in the arena.

The NWSL postponed Orlando’s match at Gotham in Harrison, New Jersey, from Wednesday night to Aug. 9.

“The match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index,” the NWSL said.

At nearby Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association said training went on as planned Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Triple Crown horse race. However, NYRA canceled training Thursday morning at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course upstate “due to poor air quality conditions forecast to impact New York State overnight and into Thursday morning.”

NYRA said a decision about Thursday’s live racing program, scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m., will be made Thursday morning “following a review of the air quality conditions and forecast.”

“NYRA utilizes external weather services and advanced on-site equipment to monitor weather conditions and air quality in and around Belmont Park,” spokesman Patrick McKenna said Wednesday. “Training was conducted normally today, and NYRA will continue to assess the overall environment to ensure the safety of training and racing throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.”

New York’s NFL teams, the Giants and Jets, both had Wednesday off from offseason workouts. The Giants had been planning to practice inside Thursday, and the Jets said they are also likely to work out indoors Thursday.

Youth sports in the area were also affected, with parents quick to voice concern about their children’s safety outdoors.

In a statement Wednesday, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association said schools should understand that all schedules were subject to change.

“NJSIAA is closely monitoring air quality data across New Jersey and local/state health advisories. As start times for athletic events draw near, we will make decisions for each venue and sport based on currently available information,” the organization said.

It’s not the first time in recent years that wildfires forced changes to the MLB schedule. A two-game series in Seattle between the Mariners and Giants was moved to San Francisco in September 2020 because of poor air quality caused by West Coast wildfires.

About an hour after Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium was postponed, two fans visiting on vacation from Vancouver, British Columbia, were still lingering outside the ballpark.

“It’s just circumstances. What do I say? It makes me disappointed because this is one of the highlights of the trip,” said Malcolm, who was in town with his daughter and didn’t want to give his last name.

“I have a heart condition. That’s the only reason I’m wearing two masks and whatever. And my personal thought is that, why wasn’t it canceled two days ago? Because we knew about all this two days ago. But having said that, I don’t want the players running around and putting out in this, too. It can’t be good for them.”