Bo Bichette breaks out in big way as Mets drub Mariners to avoid sweep

SEATTLE — “Boo” Bichette turned into Bo Bichette for a day — just long enough to help the Mets avert a series sweep.

These were the kinds of at-bats the team had in mind when it signed Bichette last offseason. What wasn’t expected was the unacceptable .570 OPS that he brought into the day.

But it was Bichette’s 4-for-4 performance that led a 7-1 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, snapping a two-game skid.

Bichette drove in three runs and scored another on a day the Mets broke out with 14 hits and got daring on the bases, with a double steal on which Carson Benge swiped home as part of a four-run fourth inning.

Though manager Carlos Mendoza cited Bichette’s bad luck this season at the plate, Bichette isn’t about to use that as a crutch.

“I am not going to sit here and say I have been at my best,” he said. “There’s probably a lot of at-bats that could be better, so I am just trying to focus on being more consistent.”

For Bichette, who snapped an 0-for-14 skid with his first-inning single, it was just his second multi-hit game since May 19.

“This was a really good day for him,” Mendoza said. “His first at-bat he hits that bullet to right field [for a single], and then it’s just a typical game from Bo when things are going well, where he is going to spray the ball around, hit line drives, going up there with the infield in he gets a sacrifice fly. A very good day for him offensively.”

This was a welcomed offensive showing for the Mets, who scored just four runs in losing the previous two games. They are off Thursday before opening a weekend series in San Diego.

Freddy Peralta had his best start in almost a month, limiting the Mariners to one earned run on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings. It followed two starts in his past three in which Peralta failed to pitch beyond five innings.

The Mets scored an unearned run in the opening inning when first baseman Josh Naylor made an errant throw to second base on Jared Young’s grounder. Bichette and Juan Soto each singled in the inning.

“When you look up and the numbers aren’t what they are supposed to be, everybody tells you it was a good swing after a bullet,” Mendoza said, referring to Bichette. “It gets tiring at times. They want to see results, and hopefully now he continues to get results and gets going here. I feel this guy has been very unlucky, I hate to say it. But he’s a good hitter.”

Peralta surrendered a home run to J.P. Crawford leading off the bottom of the first. It was the fourth homer in nine innings allowed by Mets pitching.

The Mets took control in the fourth when they sent eight batters to the plate against George Kirby. Bichette’s third hit of the game, a two-run single, gave the Mets a 3-1 lead before they got creative on the bases. Soto stole second and Benge broke for the plate, giving the Mets a successful double steal.

It was their first steal of home since Francisco Lindor’s swipe on Aug. 18, 2023, vs. the Cardinals. Before the inning concluded, Young stroked an RBI double that extended the Mets lead to 5-1.

MJ Melendez walked to begin the rally and Luis Torrens singled before Benge’s single loaded the bases for Bichette.

The rookie Benge owns a palatable .698 OPS after sputtering for most of April.

“Man, he’s come a long way,” Mendoza said. “But we knew he’s a good player. It wasn’t easy for him at the beginning, but the one thing for him is the consistency, the personality. You are going to see the same guy, and it’s hard to tell if he’s 15-for-30 or 0-for-20.”

Melendez’s RBI double in the fifth widened the Mets lead to 6-1 after A.J. Ewing’s leadoff single. Ewing raced from first and slid head-first across the plate on Melendez’s shot to right.

Bichette’s sacrifice fly in the eighth buried the Mariners in a 7-1 hole. Torrens doubled to begin the rally.

“Every win right now is important,” Mendoza said.