Mets stars shine, NY saves season with win over Padres

NEW YORK (AP) — With their season on the brink, the biggest stars for the New York Mets shined bright.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save New York with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece Saturday night.

“Win or go home,” deGrom said. “Love pitching here. Mets fans have been great to me. Didn’t want to disappoint.”

Francisco Lindor also went deep, Jeff McNeil laced a critical two-run double and All-Star closer Edwin Díaz entered much earlier than usual to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning.

New York broke open the game by scoring four times in the bottom half, keyed by the bases-loaded double McNeil lined off Adrian Morejon through a drawn-in infield.

Seth Lugo retired cleanup batter Josh Bell on a grounder with the sacks full for the save, ending a game that took 4 hours, 13 minutes.

“It was a close game in the middle innings and then it got away from us there in the seventh," San Diego manager Bob Melvin said.

The teams play a decisive Game 3 on Sunday night at Citi Field, with the winner advancing to a best-of-five NL Division Series against the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Tuesday.

Joe Musgrove is scheduled to start for his hometown Padres against 15-game winner Chris Bassitt.

“Go out there and compete and leave it all on the field,” San Diego slugger Manny Machado said. “At this point it's all about 27 outs.”

Leadoff batter Brandon Nimmo had three hits and a walk for the Mets, including a go-ahead single in the fourth that chased wild starter Blake Snell to the delight of a boisterous sellout crowd waving orange rally towels.

The left-hander walked four of his first 12