Belt homers twice for career-best 19, Giants drub Mets 8-0

Brandon Belt hit two of San Francisco’s four home runs to push his career-best total to 19, rookie Sammy Long pitched into the sixth inning and the Giants trounced the slumping New York Mets 8-0 Tuesday night.

After using late-game homers to steal consecutive triumphs from Oakland on Saturday and Sunday, San Francisco powered up early at Citi Field. LaMonte Wade Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski also connected in the first four innings as the Giants jumped to a 7-0 advantage against rookie Tylor Megill (1-3).

The lone concern for the Giants: seven-time All-Star catcher Buster Posey was removed with right knee discomfort in the fifth, one inning after being visited behind the plate by manager Gabe Kapler and a trainer.

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The Mets had hoped for a jolt in shortstop Francisco Lindor’s return after five weeks away with a right oblique strain. Instead, they managed five hits and lost for the ninth time in 11 matches.

Belt ended a 2-for-30 skid with two homers and a single in his first three plate appearances and added an RBI infield single in the eighth for his season-high fourth hit.

The 33-year-old had never topped 18 homers in the big leagues.

The major league-leading Giants have won 20 of 27 games while trying to hold off the Dodgers in the NL West. San Francisco entered Tuesday with a 2 1/2-game lead. Long (2-1) tossed three-hit ball over 5 1/3 innings.

The 26-year-old hadn’t pitched above low-Class A prior to this season, but the left-hander with a big-breaking curveball was sharp in his sixth big league start, striking out four and walking one. Megill was clobbered for a career-worst seven runs on 11 hits and five walks over 3 2/3 innings.

The rookie right-hander limited San Francisco to a run over six innings last Wednesday. Yastrzemski’s two-run homer in the second was his 20th of the season, and Wade’s two-run drive in the fourth was his 17th.

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