Pete Alonso tied career highs with two homers and six RBIs on Monday night for the host New York Mets, who snapped a six-game losing streak with an 11-2 win over the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series
The victory was the first since July 30 for the Mets -- when their winning pitcher was Justin Verlander, who was among the veterans dealt by New York ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline
The Mets were outscored 39-14 in being swept on the road by the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles
Cody Bellinger was 3-for-3 with two RBIs for the Cubs, who dropped to a National League-best 16-8 since the All-Star Break and out of a tie for the final NL wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Reds by virtue of the Reds' win over the Miami Marlins
Alonso hit a three-run homer off Drew Smyly (8-8) in the first and laced a two-run shot against the Cubs' left-hander in the third before closing out the scoring with an RBI single off backup catcher Tucker Barnhart in the eighth
The two-homer game was the 18th for Alonso, whose six RBIs matched a high set against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 15, 2019
The Mets scored twice in the sixth, when Jonathan Arauz drew a bases-loaded walk and Brandon Nimmo hit into a run-scoring double play. Danny Mendick hit a three-run homer in the seventh
Francisco Lindor had three hits for the Mets while Mendick and Rafael Ortega had two hits apiece
Kodai Senga (8-6) earned the win by allowing two runs over six innings. Senga was pulled moments before a rain delay that ended up lasting two hours and eight minutes. The right-hander gave up seven hits -- including a pair of run-scoring hits by Bellinger -- while walking two and striking out six
Nico Hoerner had two hits for the Cubs
Smyly allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings
--Field Level Medi