Floundering Red Sox lose again on road to Mets

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK — David Peterson struck out a career-high 11 on his 29th birthday and Francisco Lindor drove in three runs as the New York Mets beat the slumping Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight victory.
Lindor launched his 30th homer and added a pivotal RBI double, drawing another chorus of “MVP! MVP!” chants from the Citi Field crowd. Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos also went deep for the Mets, who remained a half-game behind Atlanta for the final NL wild card. New York has won 13 of 18 overall.
Vientos greeted Justin Slaten with a leadoff homer in the seventh after Lindor’s two-run shot in the third was the lone Mets hit off starter Kutter Crawford (8-13), who whiffed eight in six innings.
After reliever Reed Garrett worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to preserve a one-run lead, Lindor laced an RBI double to make it 4-2 in the bottom half. Brandon Nimmo followed with a sacrifice fly and Alonso connected for a two-run homer, his 31st longball of the season.
Peterson (9-1) pitched six splendid innings, allowing one run while lowering his ERA to 2.75 and winning his fourth consecutive decision. All six hits off the left-hander were singles — many of them coming on soft contact.
Early in the game, he threw a career-best 16 consecutive strikes as the first four innings zipped by in 59 minutes. New York improved to 14-3 in Peterson’s starts since he made his season debut May 29 after recovering from hip surgery.
Nick Sogard had an RBI single for the fading Red Sox, who have dropped four in a row and five of six. They’ve totaled five runs in those defeats.
Boston entered 4 1/2 games behind Kansas City for the last American League playoff berth.
Red Sox: SS Trevor Story, sidelined since April 6 by a dislocated left shoulder, could be close to coming off the injured list. Story had a scheduled day off at Triple-A Worcester after playing five innings Monday in his second rehab game — and first appearance at shortstop. He’s slated to play shortstop again Wednesday and doesn’t necessarily need to play nine innings there before rejoining the Red Sox, manager Alex Cora said. … RHP Liam Hendriks will make another rehab appearance Wednesday for Worcester and then hopefully pitch again Thursday at Triple-A. Boston would like the veteran reliever to get through back-to-back outings before returning to the big leagues. Hendriks has been out all season following Tommy John surgery.
Mets: RHP Dedniel Núñez (forearm tightness) will keep receiving treatment throughout the homestand this week. For now, the team doesn’t think an MRI is necessary, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
All-Star RHP Tanner Houck (8-9, 3.12 ERA) faces Mets RHP Tylor Megill (3-5, 4.82) in the series finale Wednesday night. Megill returned from the minors last Friday and earned a 5-1 win in Chicago over the lowly White Sox, striking out six in 5 1/3 innings.