Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The New York Mets totalled nine runs and 11 hits on Sept. 11 -- while wearing custom 9/11 shoes -- during a 9-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
New York scored the victory Wednesday at Citi Field in New York. The game occurred 18 years after the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. The Mets invited first responders from the NYPD and FDNY to the field and stood in between them during the national anthem.
"That was neat in its own right and to come out and win a game for them and to get nine runs and 11 hits, that's even cooler," Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters. "A little destiny for the day."
The Mets posted five runs in the bottom of the first frame. Wilson Ramos plated Amed Ramos on an RBI groundout for the Mets' first run. J.D. Davis followed with an RBI single, before Todd Frazier smacked a two-run homer off Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray.
Brandon Nimmo went back-to-back with Frazier in the next at-bat by hitting his fifth homer of the season.
Jeff McNeil pushed the Mets' lead to 6-0 with a solo homer in the third at-bat of the bottom of the second inning. Frazier hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the third inning. McNeil raked his 20th homer of the season -- and second of the game -- with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth frame.
Mets starter Steven Matz allowed four hits and had seven strikeouts in six shutout innings. Matz earned his 10th win of the season, while Ray took his eighth loss of 2019. Ray allowed five hits and five runs in 0.2 innings.
Alonso went 0-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and a strikeout in the win. McNeil went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Frazier went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Alonso met with his teammates before the game to give them the Sept. 11 cleats. He said his teammates can donate the cleats or keep them, but he hasn't decided what to do with them. He said if the Mets keeping winning by a lot of runs, he might have to keep wearing the cleats.
"I want to show support not just to the victims, but to the families as well," Alonso said. "No one really knows how deep those emotional stars can be. Living here, and just kind of interacting with everybody, I've tried to immerse myself in New York living. I see traces of it every single day, little bits and pieces of it.
"I just want to show recognition to all the people who are heroes. Just ordinary people who felt a sense of urgency and an admirable call of duty. This is for all the people who lose their lives and all the people that did so much to help."
