Ronny Mauricios late homer leads Mets past Angels for needed win to start May

ANAHEIM, Calif.— In the week since becoming the Mets’ starting shortstop, Ronny Mauricio struck a familiar chord by striking out a lot.In his first at-bat against the Angels on Friday, he adjusted the script by hitting into an inning-ending double play.

But the Mets keep returning to Mauricio in part because of his raw power.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

That tool was on display in the seventh inning when he hit a tie-breaking homer that helped the Mets snap a two-game skid with a 4-3 victory at Angel Stadium.On a day president of baseball operations David Stearns revealed he plans to stick with manager Carlos Mendoza to guide this submerging ship, the Mets received a respectable Christian Scott outing before overcoming a three-run deficit in the sixth and going ahead on Mauricio’s blast in the seventh. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Mauricio said through an interpreter.“When we go out there, we have to have pride.

We have to really feel it, to go out there and have success for each other.”Mauricio crushed a 1-1 fastball from Jose Fermin, with a 111.3 mph exit velocity, for his first homer this season.Mauricio became the starting shortstop last week when Francisco Lindor went on the injured list with a left calf strain that could sideline him for months.

“This guy can hit the ball as far and as hard as anybody,” Mendoza said.“He needed that one.”Mauricio began the day with a .192/.192/.192 slash line with 10 strikeouts in 26 at-bats.The Mets bullpen handled the rest.

Brooks Raley worked a scoreless seventh and Luke Weaver gained some redemption for his blown save a day earlier with a perfect eighth.Devin Williams got the final three outs for the save, signaling the conclusion of a six-game road losing streak.

Overall, Mets pitchers — Huascar Brazoban also fired a scoreless inning in relief — retired 21 strai...