NEW YORK -- First baseman Lucas Duda is not exactly out of his rut, but one swing might have started to lift a heavy burden.
Duda delivered a three-run homer in the first inning against Chase Anderson that proved the difference in the New York Mets' 4-2 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Michael Cuddyer followed with a homer as the Mets produced four first-inning runs and rode Noah Syndergaard's pitching to the series-opening victory.
Duda nonetheless struck out twice and grounded into a double play the remainder of the night. He is 3-for-33 in July.
Duda went 67 at-bats between homers.
"Tonight the two guys we hope to ride in the second half broke out a little bit," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "If we get Cuddy and Lucas going, it just changes the whole dynamic of the lineup. We don't have to worry about one or two guys. We can spread it out a little bit."
Said Duda: "I'm definitely not doing what I'm capable of. I'm not helping the team in the ways that I should. So [I'll] play these two games, take the All-Star break off, kind of take a deep breath here, relax a bit, and then get back to work."
