Alonso and Soto power Mets past Blue Jays 5-0 in Citi Field opener

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit an early two-run homer, Juan Soto added an RBI double in his home debut at Citi Field and the New York Mets beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 on Friday.

Tylor Megill (2-0) pitched two-hit ball over 5 1/3 innings and New York's bullpen, off to a terrific start, took it from there as the Mets ended Toronto’s four-game winning streak before a sellout crowd of 43,945.

Soto and Brandon Nimmo each had an RBI double off rookie left-handed reliever Mason Fluharty in a three-run sixth. Starling Marte provided a sacrifice fly, and the Mets improved to 42-22 in home openers.

Francisco Lindor doubled on the first pitch from Kevin Gausman (1-1), and Soto received a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat in Queens since signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract to join the Mets as a free agent in December.

With fans on their feet and cell phone cameras out, and his No. 22 jersey dotting the stands, Soto popped up. But then Alonso sent a 1-2 fastball the other way over the right-field fence for his third home run in four games.

Also a free agent last offseason, Alonso returned to the Mets on a $54 million, two-year deal. After rounding the bases, the homegrown fan favorite came out of the dugout for a curtain call.

With a 2-0 lead, Megill was lifted after issuing consecutive one-out walks in the sixth. Reed Garrett struck out cleanup batter Andrés Giménez, threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners, and then whiffed Alejandro Kirk to end the threat. A.J. Minter and Max Kranick completed the four-hitter.

New York has won all eight of Megill's starts since Aug. 30. He is 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA during that stretch, and 9-2 with a 2.54 ERA in 13 career starts in March and April.

Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (1-0, 1.50 ERA) faces his former team in the middle game of the series Saturday night. RHP Griffin Canning (0-1, 3.18) makes his second start for the Mets.

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New York Mets players are introduced before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets pitcher Tylor Megill throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto high fives teammates before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A New York Mets fan cheers as players are introduced before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto throws the ball before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

An American flag is unfurled at Citi Field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto takes the field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto high fives teammates before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

An American flag is unfurled at Citi Field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto runs to the outfield during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor reacts after doubling on a line drive during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto doubles on a line drive during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto runs to the dugout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto scores after Brandon Nimmo doubles on a sharp line drive during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto runs to the dugout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Juan Soto doubles on a line drive during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alan Roden attempts to catch New York Mets' Pete Alonso's fly ball during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso runs to home plate after homering on a fly ball to right field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo (9), left, and Pete Alonso (20), right, celebrate after Alonso homers on a fly ball to right field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso reacts after homering on a fly ball to right field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso homers on a fly ball to right field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, April 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. traveled to West Texas on Sunday after a second elementary school-aged child who was not vaccinated died from a measles-related illness.

Ahead of a “Make America Healthy Again” tour across southwestern U.S., Kennedy said in a social media post that he was in Gaines County to comfort the families who have buried two young children.

Kennedy said he was working with Texas health officials to “control the measles outbreak.” Seminole is the epicenter of the outbreak, which started in late January and continues to swell — with nearly 500 cases in Texas alone, plus cases from the outbreak believed to have spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

The second young child died Thursday from "what the child's doctor described as measles pulmonary failure,” and did not have underlying health conditions, the Texas State Department of State Health Services said Sunday in a news release. Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, said that the child was “receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized.”

This is the third known measles-related death tied to this outbreak. One was another elementary school-aged child in Texas and the other was an adult in New Mexico; neither were vaccinated.

It's Kennedy's first visit to the area as health secretary, where he said he met with families of both the 6- and 8-year-old children who died. He said he “developed bonds” with the Mennonite community in West Texas in which the virus is mostly spreading.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate before ascending to the role of nation’s top health secretary earlier this year, has resisted urging widespread vaccinations as the measles outbreak has worsened under his watch. On Sunday, however, he said in a lengthy statement posted on X that it was “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles."

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for more than 60 years and is 97% effective against measles after two doses.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams have been “redeployed,” Kennedy added Sunday, although the nation’s public health agency never relayed it had pulled back. Neither the CDC nor the state health department included the death in their measles reports issued Friday, but the CDC acknowledged it when asked Sunday.

The number of cases in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 more people were hospitalized. Nationwide, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, a liver doctor whose vote helped cinch Kennedy’s confirmation, called Sunday for stronger messaging from health officials in a post on X.

“Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles,” he wrote. “Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.”

Cassidy has requested Kennedy to appear before his health committee Thursday, although Kennedy has not publicly confirmed whether he will attend.

A CDC spokesperson noted the efficacy of the measles vaccine Sunday but stopped short of calling on people to get it. Departing from long-standing public health messaging around vaccination, the spokesperson called the decision a “personal one” and encouraged people to talk with their doctor. People “should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines," the spokesperson added.

Misinformation about how to prevent and treat measles is hindering a robust public health response, including claims about vitamin A supplements that have been pushed by Kennedy and holistic medicine supporters despite doctors’ warnings that it should be given under a physician's orders and that too much can be dangerous.

Doctors at Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, where the first measles death occurred, say they've treated fewer than 10 children for liver issues from vitamin A toxicity, which they found when running routine lab tests on children who are not fully vaccinated and have measles. Dr. Lara Johnson, chief medical officer, said the patients reported using vitamin A to treat and prevent the virus.

Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s former vaccine chief, said responsibility for the death rests with Kennedy and his staff. Marks was forced out of the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine safety.

“This is the epitome of an absolute needless death,” Marks told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “These kids should get vaccinated — that’s how you prevent people from dying of measles.”

Marks also said he recently warned U.S. senators that more deaths would occur if the administration didn’t mount a more aggressive response to the outbreak.

Experts and local health officials expect the outbreak to go on for several more months if not a year. In West Texas, the vast majority of cases are in unvaccinated people and children younger than 17.

With several states facing outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease — and declining childhood vaccination rates nationwide — some worry that measles may cost the U.S. its status as having eliminated the disease.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.

Seitz reported from Washington. AP reporter Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - A sign is seen outside a clinic with the South Plains Public Health District, Feb. 23, 2025, in Brownfield, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

FILE - A measles sign is seen at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Feb. 25, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)