Mets' Pete Alonso gets bruise from HBP, apology from Atlanta's Charlie Morton
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso reacts after being hit by a pitch from Atlanta starting pitcher Charlie Morton in the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/John Bazemore
ATLANTA — Pete Alonso survived a scare Wednesday night with a mere bruise on his left wrist, the Mets announced during their eventual 7-5 loss to Atlanta, the result of getting plunked by Charlie Morton’s 97-mph fastball.
X-rays were negative, but he will get a CT scan Thursday, manager Buck Showalter said. The team considered Alonso day-to-day.
Upon absorbing the pitch in the top of the first inning, he crumpled to the ground, quickly got up and started walking toward first. But he turned around before reaching the base and left the game moments later.
“That’s super promising that the X-rays are negative,” Alonso said. “But at the same time, just want to see how the swelling plays. Hopefully it goes down sooner rather than later and get right back on the horse.”
The Truist Park crowd loudly booed Alonso as he stepped to the plate, then cheered after he got drilled, an unusually strong reaction when an opposed player appears hurt.
Alonso called that “a consequence of what I said in the dugout” the day prior. After homering off Bryce Elder, he yelled: “Throw it again. Throw it again. Please, throw it again.” Bally Sports South, which does Atlanta’s broadcasts, caught it on camera and distributed it widely.
Morton sought out Alonso to apologize and make clear that there was zero intent behind the plunking, according to Alonso, who figured as much and appreciated the gesture.
“Obviously, he didn’t mean to. So for people speculating or this and that, I just want to clear that (up),” Alonso said. “Chuckie is a good guy. And the situation didn’t call for it either. Honestly, if anyone were to ask anything or speculate anything, there’s nothing to it.
“I just happened to get hit with an up and in fastball. Clearly, he went up and in the first pitch and I swung and missed. He wanted to throw that again and it got away from him.”
Alonso referred to his earlier trash-talking as “friendly, competitive banter.” He was feeling himself during the Mets’ best offensive inning in more than a week and wanted more.
“Yeah, it’s whatever. I mean, I said it. I said what I said,” Alonso told Newsday before the game. “I mean, I said please. I was asking politely for him to throw another mistake pitch over the middle of the plate so we could keep scoring more runs, but obviously that didn’t happen. It is what it is.”
As Atlanta rallied to take a lead in the sixth, at least one player, Tyler Matzek, an injured reliever, shouted back with a smile from the home dugout: “Throw it again.”
By Wednesday afternoon, Alonso’s jawing became a topic of conversation on WFAN and multiple MLB Network shows, which were on the televisions — with the volume up — in the Mets’ clubhouse.
“Nothing was behind it,” Alonso said. “He made two mistakes to Francisco (Lindor) and I was hoping he’d throw more mistakes over the heart of the plate so we could score more runs.”
Elder seemed not to take issue with the shouting, which he said he did not hear.
“If I hit one onto the concourse, I might holler too,” Elder told local reporters Tuesday. “I don’t know. I’ve never hit a homer.”
Showalter and Alonso made similar points about Alonso’s jeering happening to get picked up by microphones near the dugout.
“I mean, with hot mics in the dugout, if you were to have everything that’s said by both teams, it’s going to seem a lot more than it actually is,” Alonso said.
Showalter added: “It ain’t going to change whether I like it or not . . . It’s a way of life now in the big leagues. You gotta figure everything is mic’ed. If you played everything that was said in the dugout, [reporters] would have stories every day.”
Elder, a second-year major-leaguer in Atlanta’s rotation because of injuries, is sixth in the majors with a 2.26 ERA.
“He’s having a great year. I respect him as an opponent. Obviously, he’s having a really great start,” Alonso said. “For us, it’s been a little bit difficult to score runs as a team, so yeah, I thought I would ask him very nicely to throw some more balls over the middle of the plate.”
As polite as the request was, Elder did not oblige.
“No,” Alonso said, “he did not.”
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.
