MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso prefers to pass on even pondering the idea that Thursday’s winner-take-all in the Wild Card Series may end up being his final game with the New York Mets.
Whether he thinks about such a possibility or not, Alonso has the power to help prevent it from becoming a reality.
The Mets could use him tapping into that power. Coming through. Hitting a home run. Having a moment.
If the Mets held an advantage over the Milwaukee Brewers heading into the Wild Card Series, it was their power. In the regular season, the Mets hit 205 home runs, the Brewers hit 177. On Wednesday, the Mets didn’t hit any home runs, the Brewers hit three. Behind the latter two home runs, which came off reliever Phil Maton in the eighth inning, the Brewers pulled off a come-from-behind win, beating the Mets, 5-3, to force a deciding Game 3.
“When you’re facing an elite pitching staff, it’s not going to be easy to hit balls out of the ballpark,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve done a good job of going the other way, taking what the game is giving us, putting the ball in play. Today we didn’t do that.
“Pete, he’s a power hitter, and he’s just one swing away from hitting a big one. He’s got another opportunity tomorrow, and he’ll step up.”
New York’s offense stalled on Wednesday. It wasn’t just Alonso. After the second inning, the Brewers held the Mets to just three hits, all singles. But Alonso had multiple chances to cash in with runners in scoring position, and didn’t come through.
In the first inning with one out and runners on first and third, Alonso tripped over his bat upon hitting a grounder, failed to make it a third of the way to first base and grounded into an inning-ending double play.
In the fifth inning, with two outs, outfielder Brandon Nimmo reached second base on a balk and Alonso facing a 1-2 count. On the next pitch, Alonso struck out, chasing a knuckle-curve from right-hander Trevor Megill that tumbled low and way out of the strike zone.
Alonso went 1-for-4 with a single in the seventh inning. In Game 1 on Tuesday, he went 0-for-1 with three walks.
“I feel good,” Alonso said. “I feel like I am taking pretty decent at bats. I feel really consistent. Keep swinging at good pitches, and good things will happen.”
Alonso shared similar sentiments throughout much of a regular season that, on an individual level for him and his standards, can be defined as fine. Nothing outstanding. But fine.
In his platform season, Alonso hit 34 home runs with a .788 OPS (123 OPS+), but uncharacteristically struggled for much of the time with runners in scoring position (.232 batting average).
Alonso’s last extra-base hit: Sept. 19 (a solo home run).
The Mets have played 11 games since then, all but one of them playing a role in how much longer their season goes.
Just over a week ago, Mendoza declared that New York’s final regular-season home game would not be Alonso’s last in a Mets uniform at Citi Field. He vowed that there would be more home games to come. For that to end up being true, the Mets must win Thursday.
“I really haven’t thought of it because my whole focus is just going deep in the playoffs,” Alonso said. “I don’t really want to think about that at all. I want to think about winning the game tomorrow.”
(Top photo of Pete Alonso in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series: Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
