Nolan Arenado's homer in 9th spoils Pete Alonso's return to Mets' lineup
Pete Alonso of the Mets walks back to the dugout after striking out during the seventh inning against the Cardinals at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Polar Bear returned, but the Mets’ deep freeze continued on Sunday with an 8-7 loss to the hapless Cardinals at Citi Field.
As it turned out, Pete Alonso did not help much in his first game back from the injured list, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a fielding error at first base.
But offense was not the Mets’ problem. The problem was pitching, as it often has been this season.
The Mets (33-38) gave up four home runs, including a tiebreaking shot in the top of the ninth inning by Nolan Arenado, his second of the game, that proved to be the winner.
Adam Ottavino, a former teammate and close friend of Arenado, said it was the first home run he has given up to a righthanded batter this season and the first he has given up on a sinker in two years.
“Sometimes you get beat by a great player and it really stinks in the moment,” Ottavino said, “but come back with confidence the next time.”
The Mets were dealing with a shorthanded bullpen, which was not helped by starter Carlos Carrasco, who allowed six runs (five earned) in three innings.
After David Robertson shut down the Cardinals on eight pitches in the eighth, it seemed manager Buck Showalter might be able to come back to him for the ninth.
But Showalter said that with a game on Monday in Houston and with Robertson having warmed up an inning earlier, he did not want to push things.
“You’re going to pay that price if you go down that road,” Showalter said.
Perhaps, but now the Mets have lost 11 of 14 after dropping two of three at home to the Cardinals, who “improved” to 29-43.
Showalter said Alonso came out of the game fine physically but also “frustrated.”
“He was irritable about the way the game went,” Showalter said. “He was looking forward to getting back and making a contribution.”
Alonso told Newsday afterward that physically “everything’s 100%, for sure.”
Asked if he is confident that the team can get its act together, he told Newsday, “I have all the confidence in the world in these guys. We have talent and we have a great clubhouse, so when you mix those two things together, the potential is sky-high.”
Said Showalter, “It’s frustrating for me and everybody not to see these guys get a return for how much they’re trying to get back to what we could do as a team.”
Showalter cited the Mets’ fight in Sunday’s game, which featured a total of six home runs and 12 walks. The Mets used six pitchers and the Cardinals used five.
“The ball was obviously flying [Sunday] and we just had some trouble keeping it in the park,” Showalter said.
Arenado’s two-run homer to deep left against Carrasco made it 2-0 in the first inning, but Francisco Lindor made it 2-1 with a home run to left in the bottom of the first.
Things got worse for the Mets in the second. A throwing error by Eduardo Escobar sparked a three-run inning for St. Louis, fueled by a run-scoring single by Brendan Donovan and a two-run double to left-center by Paul Goldschmidt.
Escobar atoned with a run-scoring triple to deep center in the third, followed by a two-run double by Brandon Nimmo that made it 5-4.
Carrasco continued to struggle into the third, though, allowing a long home run to leftfield by Paul DeJong that made it 6-4.
The Mets cut the deficit to 6-5 in the bottom of the fourth when Mark Canha singled home Jeff McNeil, who had been hit by a pitch for the second time in the game.
Jordan Walker’s homer to rightfield off reliever John Curtiss in the fifth made it 7-5.
The hit parade continued in the bottom of the fifth when Tommy Pham crushed a pitch from Chris Stratton over the wall in right-center for a two-run homer that tied it at 7 for the Mets, who were shut down the rest of the way.
Does Showalter worry about doubt creeping into his clubhouse as the losing continues?
“No, not at all,” he said. “That’s not the way they’re driven, as evidenced by the way they’re playing.”
He meant their competitive spirit, not their recent results.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
