Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

After dropping the series opener 8-5 to the Rays on Tuesday night, the Mets called up Mark Vientos from Triple-A  Syracuse to make his 2023 debut on Wednesday night. Kodai Senga threw six brilliant innings, while Vientos and fellow rookie Francisco Álvarez hit game-tying home runs in the seventh and ninth innings, and Pete Alonso blasted a walk-off three-run home run in the home run in the tenth inning to give the Mets their biggest win of the season.

The Mets’ starting pitchers have struggled mightily in the first inning, giving up a run in the first in nine of their past 10 games. Despite allowing a walk and a stolen base, Senga worked around the one-out baserunner to pitch a scoreless frame with two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Mets had a chance to take an early lead and snap their eight-game first0inning scoreless streak. Eduardo Escobar, batting second and playing second base, drew a one-out walk, and, after taking second base on a wild pitch, moved to third on a bloop single by Francisco Lindor. With runners on the corners and one out, Alonso ripped a double-play ball right at Wander Franco to put an end to the inning without a run on the board.

Senga allowed a single on his first pitch in the bottom of the second inning, but he bounced back limit the Rays to just the one hit. He struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning.

Vientos took his first MLB at-bat of the season with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. After seeing five straight change-ups from Josh Fleming, Vientos grounded out to short to end the inning.

In the third inning, Senga continued to dominate baseball’s best offense. The rookie pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the night and added two more strikeouts. In just three innings, Senga struck out seven batters, just one short of his career high.

The Rays broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Senga struck out Randy Arozarena to start the inning, but Brandon Lowe and Isaac Paredes followed with back-to-back doubles to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. After Paredes advanced to third base on a wild pitch, Senga struck out two more batters to strand the runner on third.

The Mets had an opportunity to answer in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, Tommy Pham drew a walk, and Starling Marte singled to bring Mark Canha to the plate with two outs and two runners on. The Mets’ left fielder wan unable to cash in as the Rays held on to their one-run lead.

Following 1-2-3 innings in the top and bottom of the fifth inning, Senga found himself in trouble in the top of the sixth. For the second time in the game, Franco drew a walk and stole second base with one out. After Brandon Lowe drew another walk, Senga retired the red-hot Paredes and struck out Taylor Walls to keep the deficit at just one run and put an end to his night.

Senga’s final line: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 B, 12 K.

Once again, the Mets found themselves in a position to tie the game. in the bottom of the sixth.  Lindor hit his second single of the game and moved to second on a fielder’s choice by Alonso. Tommy Pham was due up with Kevin Kelly struggling on the mound for the Rays and Jake Diekman warming up in the Tampa Bay bullpen. Buck Showalter questionably sent Daniel Vogelbach to the plate to pinch-hit, and the Rays answered with the lefty Diekman who struck him out looking to leave Lindor on base.

Jeff Brigham came into the game in the top of the seventh inning. After Brigham struck out the first two batters he faced, Jose Siri launched his second home run in as many days to give the Rays a 2-0 lead.

The Mets’ offense finally had an answer in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to their newest call-up. With one out, Canha was hit by a pitch to bring Vientos to the plate as the tying run. Vientos hit an 0-1 slider over the center field fence to get the Mets even at 2-2.

Showalter turned to Adam Ottavino in the eighth, but the Rays responded with two runs of their own. Arozarena walked to lead off the inning, and,  after he stole second, Brandon Lowe hit a two-run home run to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. Ottavino found himself in more trouble after a one-out walk and hit-by-pitch, but he struck out the next two batters to keep the Rays from blowing the game open.

Stephen Nogosek entered the game in the ninth inning looking to get the Mets’ offense back out trailing by just two runs, but the Rays tacked on one more insurance run in the inning. A double by Josh Lowe and an RBI infield single by Arozarena gave the Rays a 5-2 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth.

In the bottom of the inning, Vogelbach walked to lead off the inning and Marte was hit by a pitch to bring the kids up with a chance to have a clutch moment and tie the game. Brett Baty struck out and Vientos flew out, bringing Álvarez up as the Mets’ last chance. With an 0-1 count, the Venezuelan catcher hit a mammoth three-run home run off the facing of the second deck to tie the game 5-5. It was the rookie’s fourth-career home run, but by far his biggest in a Mets’ uniform.

David Robertson came into the game in the tenth inning, and the Rays quickly took advantage of the free runner. Walls stole third base for the Rays’ seventh stolen base of the game before scoring an a one-out single by Harold Ramírez. With two outs and Ramírez at second base, Josh Lowe singled to bring in the crucial second run of the extra frame to give the Rays a 7-5 lead.

Once more down to their last outs and trailing by multiple runs, Jeff McNeil hit a lead off single to start the bottom of the tenth inning and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. With one out, Alonso came to the plate and sent a 98 MPH fastball 416 feet to the second deck in left field to give the Mets a dramatic 8-7 comeback victory.

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso provided another legendary moment in his Mets’ career with his walk-off homer on Wednesday night. He is now tied with Howard Johnson, Kevin McReynolds, and Chris Jones for the most extra-inning walk-off homers in franchise history.

On top of that, he also did it while being “sick as a dog” all day on Wednesday, according to Buck Showalter.

While Alonso earned his POTG honors, the Mets’ rookies also deserve a special shoutout. Álvarez, and Vientos his clutch, game-tying home runs in big spots, and Senga turned in his best MLB start yet. Senga went six innings for the third time season, and had a career-high 12 strikeouts, becoming the first Japanese pitcher in Mets history to strike out more than 10 batters in a game.

On Deck

The Mets will take on the Rays in the finale of their three-game series on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET at Citi Field. Tylor Megill (4-2, 4.02 ERA) will start for the Mets. He got the win in his most recent start, allowing two runs (one earned) over five innings against the Nationals on May 12.

Taj Bradley (3-0, 3.52 ERA) will make his fourth start of the year for the Rays. Bradley, the Rays top prospect and MLB.com’s 18th- ranked prospect overall, and has pitched well in his three MLB starts. However, he has pitched to only an 11.25 ERA in his five starts in Triple-A.

The game will be broadcast on SNY and MLB Network for out-of-market viewers, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.