Senga extends scoreless streak to 19 innings, Alonso homers, Mets beat Cardinals 3-0

NEW YORK (AP) — Kodai Senga extended his scoreless streak to 19 innings, Pete Alonso homered and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the third straight day, 3-0 on Saturday.

Alonso drove in two runs and Juan Soto had an RBI single for the Mets, who have won the first three games of the four-game series.

Senga (3-1) gave up three hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 0.79.

Reed Garrett, A.J. Minter and Edwin Díaz followed with hitless relief. Díaz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to remain perfect in five save chances, finishing the Mets fourth shutout.

St. Louis dropped to 1-8 on the road.

Matthew Liberatore (1-2) gave up two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. His 100 pitche were the most by a Cardinals starter this season.

Soto had two hits, raising his average to .240. He had an RBI single in the third and scored on Alonso's double. Alonso hit his sixth home run this season in the eighth off John King.

Brett Baty threw out Thomas Saggese trying to score on Yohel Pozo’s one-out grounder to third in the fifth.

After Minter walked the bases loaded in the eighth, Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor ranged over to the second base side of the bag, whirled and threw out Alec Burleson to end the inning.

Brendan Donovan went 0 for 4, stopping his career-long 14-game hitting streak. Donovan was robbed of a hit in the fourth, when Mark Vientos made a leaping grab at third base.

Mets RHP Clay Holmes (2-1, 3.66 ERA) opposes Cardinals RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.13 ERA) in the series finale Sunday.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher John King, left, reacts as New York Mets' Pete Alonso runs the bases after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Jesse Winker, left, Juan Soto, Luisangel Acuña, second from left, and Francisco Lindor, right, celebrate after a baseball game against the St. Louis CardinalsSaturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz reacts after striking out St. Louis Cardinals' Nolan Gorman during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso smiles as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Starling Marte, left, watches as Pete Alonso gestures to fans after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga, of Japan, pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso gestures to teammates as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga, of Japan, pitches during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

It's the tweet that changed everything for Oscar Piastri.

A blunt 48-word message in 2022 paved the way for the Australian driver to lead the current Formula 1 standings with McLaren, rather than struggling to get into the top 10 with Alpine.

“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year,” Piastri wrote. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”

Nearly three years on from Piastri — who was then Alpine's reserve — snubbing the team for McLaren in such a public way, it's clear he made the right choice.

Piastri has won four of the six races this season and is on a streak of three wins in a row. He has 131 points this year, while Alpine has seven points in total and last won a race nearly four years ago.

Piastri is targeting a fourth consecutive win in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, but suspects the bumpy Imola track could mean tougher competition for McLaren than two weeks ago in Miami.

“When you’ve won four out of six, it’s been a great start. I’ve been enjoying the success we’ve been having on track, but for me what’s been very satisfying is all the work we’ve done behind the scenes to achieve that,” he said Thursday. “It’s quite a different feeling when you win a race because you feel like you’ve just gotten by or had good circumstances. But to now be winning because we have an incredibly quick car and I feel like I’m driving well, that’s very satisfying.”

Piastri and McLaren had the pace again in Friday’s first practice session as the Australian was fastest by .0032 of a second ahead of teammate and title rival Lando Norris. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was third-fastest for Williams, .020 off Norris’ time. Defending champion Max Verstappen was only seventh-fastest for Red Bull.

The session was stopped with just over two minutes left when Gabriel Bortoleto slid off track and tapped the barrier, leaving his Sauber stuck in the gravel.

Alpine isn't challenging the top teams on pace but it's in pole position for drama.

The Renault-owned team had been expected for months to drop Australian driver Jack Doohan, a rookie, for the fast but inconsistent reserve Franco Colapinto.

At the Miami Grand Prix, team principal Oliver Oakes dismissed that claim, but two days after the Miami race, Oakes suddenly resigned. A day later, Alpine dropped Doohan — whose best race result was 13th — after the Miami Grand Prix and promoted Colapinto.

The Argentine driver, a mid-season replacement at Williams in 2024, is happy to be back in F1 but expressed reservations Thursday about how the whole process has been handled.

Colapinto said it's “never nice circumstances” to get a seat at another driver's expense, and expressed concern his new deal — which only runs for five races — isn't long enough to really show what he can do.

The first of two races in Italy this year is already delighting the home fans.

For the first time since 2021, they have an Italian driver in Mercedes' 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, and Ferrari's red-clad tifosi fans get their first sight of Lewis Hamilton racing for the team on Italian soil.

Piastri, too, has been connecting with his Italian heritage as he met with some “very, very distant relatives” and became an honorary citizen of Licciana Nardi in Tuscany, where his family name originated.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Alpine driver Franco Colapinto of Argentina steers his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia sits in his car during the first free practice at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks in the paddock at the Dino and Enzo Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, is flaked by his teammate Oscar Piastri of Australia in the paddock at the Dino and Enzo Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia answers reporters during a news conference at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, ahead the Italy's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)