Pete Alonso breaks out with two homers in Mets' win over Yankees
The Mets' Pete Alonso watches the flight of his solo home run against the Yankees during the sixth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Twenty days after what had been his most recent home run, Pete Alonso’s slump appears to be over.
He powered the Mets to a 9-3 win against the Yankees on Tuesday with his biggest game of the season: 3-for-4, two home runs, five RBIs and a walk.
That breakout followed his productive weekend in Boston, at the end of which he said, “it’s been really nice playing well for three days in a row.”
This, then, must’ve been really, really nice.
“Today was my day,” he said. “Tomorrow I just want to win as many pitches as possible and be relaxed and be on time.”
Among those who saw this coming: Alonso and manager Buck Showalter.
Alonso cited his single in the bottom of the eighth last Thursday against the White Sox as a turning point. It helped him lock in his swing, he said, and mentally it was nice to actually see some return on all his hard work.
Including that knock, he is 9-for-his-last-16 with five extra-base hits.
Before that, Alonso hit .132 with a .252 OBP and .297 slugging percentage — a stunning power outage for one of baseball’s preeminent sluggers — over the month-plus since he got hit on the wrist by a pitch in Atlanta.
“It’s clicking a feel with an approach and, I hate to say it, result,” Alonso said. “I don’t want to be driven by results because baseball is a game of failure. I’m a big believer in the process. But when you put so much in and you don’t get a lot out, sometimes it’s really difficult.”
Showalter said: “I saw it in Boston a little bit. Nobody wants to hear it in the world we live in, but there’s body language and facial expression and you know that he’s starting to feel it a little bit. So it doesn’t surprise me.”
Alonso’s homer in the third inning was his first since July 6 in Arizona, the dozen games in between representing his longest homerless streak of the season and third-longest of his career.
The Mets led 1-0 against Domingo German, who offered a changeup down and in — a mistake of a pitch, Alonso said. He hooked it to rightfield. It eked into the first row of seats.
Batting in the sixth, again against German, Alonso left little doubt on a fastball a little up and over the heart of the plate. His fly ball went an estimated 431 feet to centerfield.
“The baseball gods reward guys that stay true to it, and he does. He never gives in,” Showalter said. “The biggest thing with Pete is you feel for him. He knows how much he means to our club, and it kills him not to be able to do the things [he is capable of doing]. I’ve said many times: Can you imagine having that skill at your fingertips and not being able to use it or get to it? It’s got to be very frustrating.”
The sudden hot streak is not surprising, Alonso said. He did, however, describe himself as “happy” about it at least eight times in an interview that lasted less than five minutes.
“Because there’s a lot of work, not just physically but mentally that was put in in order to get to this point,” Alonso said.
“What you see in the game is all the hours and dedication that you don’t see behind the scenes. So I’m just really happy that I can finally see the fruits of my labor. Yeah, it’s really nice. Really, really nice.”
Guillorme update
Luis Guillorme suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right calf, which usually requires 4-6 weeks to return from, the Mets announced Tuesday. That puts him in a late August/early September window.
Showalter said that news was “about as expected” after Guillorme got hurt Saturday and went on the injured list between games of a doubleheader. He has used a walking boot in the days since.
“It’s going to be a while,” Showalter said.
Pham: ‘One more day’
Tommy Pham said he needed “one more day” to deal with his right groin injury before returning to the lineup Wednesday. He said previously he expected to be back Tuesday.
Marte gets moving
Starling Marte took batting practice and ran the bases Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, tangible steps forward while he is sidelined by migraines. Showalter said the Mets hadn’t decided if they’ll activate him when he is eligible Thursday.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
