ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mets manager Buck Showalter had a consistent motto throughout their long trip to Southern California: They can only control what is front of them.
On Sunday, they made sure they were able to end it on a winning note.
J.D. Davis and Pete Alonso homered, Taijuan Walker struck out 10 and the Mets defeated the Los Angeles Angels 4-1.
Starling Marte had two hits and drove in a run in his return to the lineup, while Jeff McNeil had three hits for the Mets, who took two of three at The Big A to go 5-5 on their season-high 10-game trip.
“I knew it was going to be a challenge. I thought our guys responded well,” Showalter said. “We had to make some adjustments and there will be another one around the corner.”
The Mets left New York with a 9 1/2-game lead in the NL East on June 2. They return with the National League’s best record at 40-22, but their division lead is down to 5 1/2 with Atlanta on an 11-game winning streak.
With the Braves on their best stretch since 2013, that’s why Showalter wasn’t fixated on the standings during most of the road trip.
“Coming out 5-5 isn’t the worst thing. We played a bunch of high quality teams. And we figured out a lot about ourselves, especially since we’re not at full strength,” said Alonso, who had two hits, including a solo shot in the ninth inning, and drove in two runs to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
Davis connected on an elevated fastball from Patrick Sandoval (3-2) and put it into the Mets’ bullpen in left field for a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. It was only Davis’ second home run of the season, with the other coming April 24 at Arizona.
Davis has a .263 batting average, but he has produced at a .357 clip (20 for 56) with five RBIs over his last 16 games.
Walker (4-2), who had only 25…
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