Guardians take another bite out of Big Apple, beat Mets 3-2

NEW YORK — The Guardians weren't satisfied with one win at Citi Field. After getting the first win in franchise history in the Mets' ballpark Monday night, the Guardians went back-to-back with a 3-2 victory Tuesday. Steven Kwan singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the seventh inning, as the Guardians beat the slumping Mets. Kyle Manzardo and Gabriel Arias each had an RBI single off starter Clay Holmes in the fourth as the Guardians erased an early 2-0 deficit. They won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 18-7 since snapping a 10-game losing streak July 7. "Big win for us today and good series," starter Logan Allen said. "We're just trying to stay consistent." Pete Alonso had a sacrifice fly in the first for the Mets, who have dropped seven of eight and are 1-4 on their six-game homestand. They fell 2 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. Alonso remained at 251 career homers, one shy of Darryl Strawberry's franchise record. Mark Vientos doubled leading off the second and scored on Tyrone Taylor's single, but New York's offense went silent after that against Allen and four relievers. Matt Festa (3-2) struck out two in a perfect sixth, and Cade Smith worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save. The bullpen was missing key pieces after they were used a lot in the last few days but still shut down the Mets. "That's exactly why we use all eight in all situations," manager Stephen Vogt said. "Because we're going to have nights like this. For those guys to go 12 up, 12 down was really fun to watch." Cleveland broke a 2-all tie by stringing together three consecutive soft singles off Tyler Rogers (4-4) with two outs in the seventh. "Our guys had great at-bats when we needed to tonight," Vogt said. "We took some walks and got some big hits when we needed to. Different guys contributing and a lot of fun. "We're playing good baseball right now and I'm really proud of our guys." With a 2-0 lead, New York had Allen on the ropes following a throwing error by first baseman C.J. Kayfus that loaded the bases in the second. But second baseman Brayan Rocchio and shortstop Arias turned a slick double play to end the inning on Francisco Lindor's hot shot up the middle. "That was amazing," Allen said. "Great play by Rocchio and then Gabe obviously has an all-world arm. It was a difference-maker." Key stats Cleveland pitchers retired their final 14 batters. Jeff McNeil's leadoff single in the fourth was the last of New York's four hits. ... Cleveland has won five in a row against the Mets dating to last year. Up next RHP Gavin Williams (6-4, 3.33 ERA) starts against Mets LHP David Peterson (7-4, 2.83 ERA) as Cleveland goes for a three-game sweep in a Wednesday matinee.