Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

The bats came alive for the New York Mets (29-15), who defeated the San Francisco Giants (22-19) by a score of 13-3 on Monday night. The Mets celebrated manager Buck Showalter’s 66th birthday in style by put together their biggest offensive performance of the season. They racked up 18 hits in total, including three home runs and eight extra-base hits.

It was the Giants that struck first against David Peterson, who was making his first start for the Mets since May 3. Brandon Crawford launched a two-run homer to straightaway center in the bottom of the second to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead. At one point, Peterson started four straight hitters with a 2-0 count, and it took him 40 pitches to get through the first two innings.

Alex Cobb struck out the side in the first inning and made it through the top of the second in just eight pitches, but the Mets got to him in the third. With a runner on first and two outs, the Mets got infield singles from Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte to load the bases. Francisco Lindor came through in a big way, dunking a ground-rule double down the left-field line to tie the game at 2-2. With that hit, Lindor now has 500 RBI in his career.

Pete Alonso kept it going with a three-run blast on the first pitch he saw, giving the Mets a 5-2 lead. Alonso entered the night leading the NL in RBI, and he pulled into a three-way tie for the NL lead in home runs with 11 on the season.

The Mets tacked on another run in the top of the sixth on an RBI double down the third-base line from J.D. Davis. All six runs that the Mets had scored to that point were driven in with two outs. The Mets have tagged Alex Cobb for 16 hits and 10 runs across his two starts against the team this season.

After that rough second inning, Peterson settled down and finished the night with six strong frames. Peterson retired the last 11 batters he faced, and he collected six strikeouts while only issuing one walk. Peterson’s season ERA sits at 2.16 through five games (four starts), and he will continue to be an important piece in the Mets’ starting rotation as the top-line arms work their way back from injury.

Once Peterson left, the Mets’ bats exploded.

Alonso legged out an infield single to lead off the top of the eighth, the Mets’ sixth infield hit on the night. Jeff McNeil cashed him in with a two-run homer, and Mark Canha went back-to-back to extend the lead to 9-2. Patrick Mazeika got in on the fun with an RBI double, the fourth extra-base hit of the inning for the Mets.

The Mets added three more runs in the top of the ninth off the position player Luis González, pitching in his second straight game for the Giants. Eduardo Escobar drove in two with a double, and Davis’ fourth hit of the game was an RBI single to make it 13 runs on the night for the Mets.

The team scored 10 of its 13 runs with two outs.

After shutdown innings in the seventh and eighth, Colin Holderman has now pitched five scoreless innings across four appearances to start his major league career. Chasen Shreve gave up a run for the fourth consecutive appearance, but he had plenty of room to work with and closed out the game for a lopsided victory.

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Alonso entered the night as one of the league’s best hitters in just about every major category, and he kept the ball rolling with a three-hit performance. Alonso’s homer in the third inning gave the Mets a lead that they never relinquished, and his infield single in the eighth kicked off a four-run rally. He is the lifeblood of this Mets’ offense, and he’s putting together an outstanding season.

Final line for Alonso: 3-for-5, 1 HR (11), 3 RBI, 2 R

On Deck

The Mets continue their three-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 9:45 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on SNY.

The Mets will go with Chris Bassitt on the mound, while the Giants will counter with Logan Webb.