NEW YORK — A day after he was the only player to speak during a pregame team meeting led by David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza, Pete Alonso delivered one of his best performances of the season. Alonso homered among his three hits and drove in five runs in the New York Mets’ 10-1 beatdown of the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
With Atlanta losing, the Mets’ pushed their lead for a playoff spot to two games.
“We control our own destiny,” Alonso said. “That’s what we want to do, is win as many ballgames as we can.”
WSH 1
NYM 10
FinalTylor Megill was good again. Luisangel Acuña had three hits, including a home run. The lead over Atlanta is up to two.
The Mets are 83-68.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) September 18, 2024
That was largely the message on Monday in the Mets clubhouse when Stearns and Mendoza addressed the team. Alonso spoke at the end, reminding his teammates what was still in front of them.
(The New York Post first reported the team meeting and Alonso’s role within it.)
“It was awesome — just like a little pump-up speech to give us a little push for the next two weeks,” said Mark Vientos. “I feel like we have the edge right now and we’re going to keep it going.”
“That’s been Pete all year,” said J.D. Martinez. “He speaks when he needs to.”
“I just wanted to say something from the heart to the fellas,” Alonso said. “That’s pretty much it.”
“It was cool to hear from all of them,” Tyrone Taylor said. “Just come and be the best version of ourselves. Those are cool words to hear.”
He paused.
“Having fun was also thrown in there,” he said.
Tuesday was certainly fun for New York. Tylor Megill continued his late-season surge, limiting Washington to an unearned run on two hits over six innings. In four starts filling in for the injured Paul Blackburn, Megill has allowed four earned runs in 21 2/3 innings; the Mets are 4-0 in those games.
Luisangel Acuña, playing for Francisco Lindor at shortstop, rebounded from an early error to come through with three hits, including an RBI double and the first home run of his major-league career.
And Alonso helped break the game open early and put it away late. The first baseman has not had a poor year. But this season for Alonso has lacked the big, timely hits he had routinely provided in the past. His OPS with runners in scoring position is down 200 points from his career norm.
On Tuesday at least, he delivered in those moments. With the bases loaded in the third inning, his broken-bat blooper plunked down behind first base to score two — the kind of batted-ball luck that has often eluded him since the start of last season.
Three innings later, he pummeled an 0-2 fastball on the inner half to left field for a three-run homer — his first three-run blast in three months.
“I feel really good,” Alonso said. “I just want to continue to have quality at-bats.”
“He can carry a team,” Mendoza said. “It was good for him to say what he needed to say, and to go out there and back it up is good.”
This would not be the first time a strong game from Alonso has hinted at a characteristic hot streak to come; that stretch has yet to arrive in full force in 2024. There are 11 regular-season games for it yet. Alonso and the Mets hope there’s even more time than that — that this is not his final homestand in Queens.
“This place is really special,” he said of New York. “I’m just really fired up because of the situation we’ve put ourselves in.”
(Photo of Pete Alonso: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
