MILWAUKEE (AP) — William Contreras homered to cap a four-run seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers rallied past the skidding New York Mets 7-4 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory, spoiling Pete Alonso’s record-tying night.

Alonso opened the second inning with his 252nd career home run, matching the franchise record held by Darryl Strawberry for 37 years. But the Mets lost their sixth straight game and 10th in the last 11 to fall 4 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East.

New York is only 2 1/2 games ahead of Cincinnati for the final National League playoff spot.

Juan Soto went deep for the third game in a row, giving the Mets a 4-3 lead when he led off the fifth with his 28th homer of the season. Starling Marte also hit a solo shot for New York.

Milwaukee rallied in the seventh. Brice Turang singled and Joey Ortiz blooped a double off Ryne Stanek (2-6) with one out. Turang scored the tying run on Sal Frelick’s groundout to shortstop.

Ryan Helsley relieved and Isaac Collins delivered an RBI single on a sharp grounder that deflected off third baseman Ronny Mauricio’s arm. Contreras followed with a two-run homer to make it 7-4.

Jared Koenig (4-1) got the win with a scoreless inning. Trevor Megill tossed a scoreless ninth for his 28th save in 31 opportunities.

The Mets went up 3-2 in the fourth on Cedric Mullins’ RBI single. Turang tied it in the bottom half with his 10th homer.

Milwaukee went up 2-1 with two unearned runs in the second when shortstop Francisco Lindor failed to corral Ortiz’s two-out bouncer up the middle with the bases loaded for a two-run error.

Marte pulled the Mets even in the third with his sixth homer.

Key moment

It appeared Contreras flied out to end the seventh — but Helsley was called for a pitch clock violation as he delivered. Contreras hit the next pitch out to left-center for his 10th homer.

Key stat

Shelby Miller, acquired from Arizona at the July 31 trade deadline, made his Brewers debut with a scoreless sixth inning.

Up next

Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.15 ERA), who has won 10 straight decisions, starts Sunday against Mets LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.52).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb