ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — When a baseball team is getting solid production from the top of the order, along with clutch hitting with runners in scoring position, it usually produces a winning lineup.
Those two factors are among many why the New York Mets have the best record in the National League.
Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha both had two hits and three RBIs and the Mets were 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position as they bounced back after two straight losses with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
“It was a good night for the top of the lineup and for the lineup as a whole. We were able to put up some runs and keep the pressure on them and not really let them come back,” said Nimmo, who came into the game 3 for 24 during the first seven games of the road trip.
Every Mets starter had at least one hit for the fourth time this season as the NL East leaders had 13 in the game. It’s the third time on this California trip New York has had at least 13 hits.
Canha was 2 for 2 with three RBIs with runners in scoring position. The Mets lead the majors with a .292 batting average and have 225 RBIs with runners in scoring position.
Canha is 20 for 61 with nine RBIs in his last 16 games to raise his season batting average to .300, which is ninth in the NL.
“He’s one guy that sneaks up on you,” manager Buck Showalter said of Canha. “He’s at a stage of his career where he doesn’t get out of what he knows works.”
David Peterson (3-0), the second of six Mets pitchers, allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings of relief to get the win.
Brandon Marsh had three hits, drove in three runs and had the first multi-homer game of his career. The Angels snapped a franchise-record 14-game losing streak Thursday, but haven’t won two straight since May 24.
Mike Trout missed his…