A.J. Ewing made a memorable major league debut on Tuesday, scoring twice and driving in two runs to lead the New York Mets to a commanding 10-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field.
Called up from Triple-A Syracuse earlier that day, Ewing delivered an RBI triple, drew three walks—including one with the bases loaded—and stole a base. Carson Benge and Juan Soto each contributed two hits, a run scored, and an RBI. Freddy Peralta (3-3) allowed two runs over six innings while striking out seven, but the Mets lost catcher Francisco Alvarez in the sixth inning due to a right knee injury. He is scheduled for further evaluation on Wednesday.
Detroit struck first in the second inning when Dillon Dingler launched a solo home run to left field. Wenceel Pérez followed with a single, and Gage Workman doubled to put runners in scoring position. Spencer Torkelson then lifted a sacrifice fly to bring Pérez home, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
New York answered in the bottom half. MJ Melendez walked, Brett Baty singled, and Ewing drew a walk to load the bases. Alvarez grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Melendez to score. The Mets tied the game in the third on consecutive singles from Bo Bichette, Soto, and Mark Vientos. They took their first lead in the fourth when Alvarez doubled and scored on Benge’s single.
The Mets broke the game open in the sixth inning. Ewing walked and stole second, Luis Torrens walked, and Benge reached on an infield single to load the bases. Bichette then hit a grounder to third baseman Workman, whose errant throw allowed two runs to score. Soto’s groundout added another run, making it 6-2.
In the seventh, Ewing ripped a two-out triple to right field, scoring Baty. Torrens followed with a single to bring home Ewing, pushing the lead to 8-2. New York tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning for the final margin.
Dingler’s homer was the highlight for Detroit, which has lost six of its last seven games. Jack Flaherty (0-4) took the loss after giving up three runs over 3 2/3 innings.
