NEW YORK (AP) — Starling Marte hit his 150th career homer Wednesday, powering the New York Mets to a 9-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a sweep of a three-game series.
Marte, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Pirates, hit the milestone two-run homer off the railing beyond the left-center field fence to give the Mets a 2-1 lead in the third inning. The 35-year-old is the only active player with at least 150 homers and 300 stolen bases.
His 341 steals lead all current players.
“Continue competing, continue reaching milestones and goals,” Marte said through an interpreter. “And also for the team to continue to win — that’s all that I really focus on.”
Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run single in the sixth and Harrison Bader homered on the next pitch for the Mets, who went 5-1 on a homestand against the Pirates and Kansas City Royals to improve to 10-3 since an 0-5 start.
Four of the Mets’ wins on the homestand — including all three against the Pirates — were on comebacks.
“Really good homestand for us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We were able to comeback a couple nights. Today, got behind again. It’s good to see the team continue to play well.”
Brandon Nimmo’s two-run single capped a three-run eighth.
The sweep was the first for the Mets at Citi Field since they won three straight from the Philadelphia Phillies from May 30-June 1, 2023.
Right-hander Luis Severino (2-1) allowed an unearned run in six innings — his longest start since he tossed seven scoreless innings for the Yankees against the Detroit Tigers last Aug. 28. Severino allowed a base runner in each of his first five innings, but induced three double plays.
“We’re doing great — putting (together) great at-bats, scoring a lot of runs, defense was unbelievable today,” Severino said. “We are where we want to be.”
Bryan Reynolds had a third-inning RBI single to give the Pirates a short-lived lead. Pittsburgh scored at least five runs in 10 of its first 16 games this season before being limited to five runs and 13 hits by the Mets.
“We have to have better at-bats,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Up until this series, we’ve had pretty consistent at-bats and then this series we got pitched to. We need to make an adjustment. Probably a good time for an off day.”
Bailey Falter (1-1) gave up two runs in five innings for Pittsburgh.
EARLY SEASON ATTENDANCE
The attendance at Citi Field was 18,092. It’s the sixth game under 20,000 in 11 home dates for the Mets. Outside of the COVID-19-restricted 2020 and 2021 seasons, the Mets entered this season having played in front of fewer than 20,000 fans at Citi Field just once since it opened in 2009 — on Sept. 6, 2017, when 19,617 fans attended a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
SHEA HEY
Jack Fisher threw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday, which was the 60th anniversary of Fisher throwing the first pitch in the Mets’ debut game at Shea Stadium — a 4-3 loss to the Pirates in which Fisher threw 6 2/3 innings. Fisher, 85, was accompanied to the mound by 83-year-old Ron Hunt, who made the NL All-Star team for the Mets in 1964 and 1966, and Hunt’s son.
METS MOVE
The Mets claimed RHP Michael Tonkin off waivers from the Minnesota Twins and designated LHP Tyler Jay for assignment. Tonkin began the season with the Mets and went 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three games before being designated for assignment and claimed by the Twins. He gave up two runs in two innings in his lone appearance for Minnesota on April 12.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Joey Bart (head) was scratched shortly before first pitch and replaced by Henry Davis. Shelton said Bart was catching in the bullpen during batting practice earlier this week when he was hit in the head by a home run. “He came in today, he felt fine and then as we got closer to game time, he didn’t feel as well,” Shelton said. … 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes (lower back) missed his second straight game. Shelton said Hayes was feeling better and would undergo additional treatment during Thursday’s day off. … C Yasmani Grandal (left foot plantar fasciitis) went 0-for-2 with an RBI in his first rehab game Tuesday for Triple-A Indianapolis. … SS Oneil Cruz was visited by a trainer but remained in the game after he stumbled and fell while trying to elude Jeff McNeil’s tag on a first-inning grounder by Connor Joe. Cruz, who was tagged out by shortstop Francisco Lindor, was limited to nine games last season because of a broken ankle suffered during a home plate collision against the Chicago White Sox.
Mets: 3B Brett Baty (left hamstring), who left Tuesday’s 3-1 win in the sixth inning, didn’t play but felt better. Mendoza said Baty is day to day and shouldn’t require a stint on the injured list. … C Francisco Alvarez stayed in the game after he was hit in the throwing hand by Henry Davis’ bat in the third inning. Alvarez was charged with catcher’s interference on the play.
UP NEXT
Pirates: Begin a seven-game homestand Friday by hosting the Boston Red Sox.
Mets: Start a six-game West Coast road trip Friday with the opener of a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 4.30 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York. Los Angeles has yet to announce a starter.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets' Starling Marte rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
New York Mets' Starling Marte (6) celebrates with Zack Short (21) after they scored off of Marte's a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
New York Mets' Starling Marte reacts as he reaches home plate after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
NEW YORK (AP) — More worries about inflation and interest rates staying high are knocking U.S. stocks lower on Tuesday, as the market closes out its worst month since September.
The S&P 500 was down 1% in late trading and on track to close out its first losing month in the last six. Its momentum slammed into reverse in April, falling as much as 5.5% at one point, after setting records through the early part of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 430 points, or 1.1%, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.
Stocks began dropping as soon as trading began, after a report showed U.S. workers won bigger gains in wages and benefits than expected during the first three months of the year. While that’s good news for workers and the latest signal of a solid job market, it feeds into worries that upward pressure remains on the economy and inflation.
It's the latest in a string of reports on inflation and the overall economy to come in stubbornly higher than forecast. That's pushed traders to largely give up on hopes that the Federal Reserve will deliver multiple cuts to interest rates this year. That in turn has sent Treasury yields jumping in the bond market, which has cranked up the pressure on stocks.
Tuesday's losses accelerated in the afternoon as traders made their final moves before closing the books on April, and ahead of Wednesday's afternoon announcement by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
No one expects the Federal Reserve to change its main interest rate on Wednesday. But traders are now mostly betting the Fed will cut rates either one or zero times through the balance of this year, according to data from CME Group. That’s a big letdown after traders came into the year forecasting six or more cuts.
The Fed itself was earlier penciling in three cuts to rates during 2024, but top officials have recently hinted rates may stay high for longer as they wait for more confirmation inflation is heading down toward their 2% target. The Fed’s main interest rate is sitting at the highest level since 2001, which puts downward pressure on the economy and investment prices.
Without the benefit of easing interest rates, companies will need to deliver bigger profits in order to support their stock prices, which critics have called too expensive following their run to records.
GE Healthcare Technologies tumbled 13.1% after it reported weaker results and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. F5 dropped 7.8% despite reporting a better profit than expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and it said customers were remaining cautious and forecasting largely flat IT budgets for the year.
McDonald’s erased an early loss and was up 0.1% after its profit for the latest quarter came up just shy of analysts’ expectations. It was hurt by weakening sales trends at its franchised stores overseas, in part by boycotts from Muslim-majority markets over the company’s perceived support of Israel.
Helping to keep the market's losses in check was 3M, which rose 5.3% after reporting stronger results and revenue than forecast. Eli Lilly climbed 5.2% after turning in a stronger profit than expected on strong sales of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs for diabetes and obesity. It also raised its forecasts for revenue and profit for the full year.
This earnings reporting season has largely been better than expected so far. Not only have the tech companies that dominate Wall Street done well, so have smaller companies across a range of industries.
That’s a change from the recent past, and it helped push strategists at Deutsche Bank to raise their forecast for full-year earnings growth for the S&P 500. Many companies are topping forecasts because they’ve been able to wring more profit out of each $1 of revenue than analysts were expecting, according to Binky Chadha, chief strategist at Deutsche Bank.
Such strength could support stock prices even if interest rates end up staying high, according to Kristy Akullian, head of iShares Investment Strategy, Americas.
“Equities don’t need Fed rate cuts for the rally to continue, all they need is solid earnings growth,” she said.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.68% from 4.61% just before the report’s release.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped back above the 5% level to 5.03% from 4.97% late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% after reopening following a holiday. The government reported stronger-than-expected gains in industrial production for March.
Indexes were mixed across much of the rest of Asia, but lower in Europe.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
A person passes the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Global shares are trading mostly higher as investors keep their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A window cleaner works along the window of at a securities firm building Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Japanese characters read as "securities." (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan Yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People pass by an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index, left, and U.dollar/Japanese yen conversion rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
