Mets' pitchers, hitters dominate Royals

Luis Severino and four relievers combined on a three-hitter Friday night for the host New York Mets, who cooled off the Kansas City Royals with a 6-1 win in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

The Mets scored their first five runs with two outs as they won for the sixth time in eight games following an 0-5 start. The Royals had their seven-game winning streak snapped.

Severino (1-1) signed as a free agent with the Mets in December after spending his first eight seasons with the New York Yankees. The right-hander earned his first win with his new team after allowing one run on one hit -- Salvador Perez's leadoff homer in the second -- while walking four and striking out four in five innings.

Jake Diekman got two outs in the sixth before Reed Garrett, Adam Ottavino and Jorge Lopez combined to allow one hit over the final 3 1/3 innings. The three hits allowed tied a season-low for the Mets, who held the Cincinnati Reds to three hits in a 3-1 win last Sunday.

Brandon Nimmo had an RBI double in the third against Michael Wacha (1-1) before the Mets took the lead in the fourth, when Jeff McNeil and DJ Stewart laced consecutive RBI singles.

Brett Baty added a two-run double in the fifth before Pete Alonso homered leading off the eighth.

McNeil finished with three hits while Alonso, Baty and Harrison Bader had two hits apiece. Every Mets starting batter had at least one hit except right fielder Starling Marte, and the team totaled 14 hits.

Vinnie Pasquantino (sixth inning) and Nelson Velazquez (ninth inning) singled for the Royals' other hits. The three hits were a season-low for Kansas City, which had outscored the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros 48-13 during its winning streak.

Wacha, opposing the Mets for the first time since he spent the shortened 2020 season with New York, allowed five runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings. He induced double-play grounders in the second, fourth and sixth.