FLUSHING, NY — Pete Alonso got hold of a fastball in the 10th inning at Citi Field Sunday afternoon off Texas Rangers’ rookie pitcher Luis Curvelo. Significant, yes because it was a game winning walk-off home run clearing the fence in right-field.
Significant was the Mets 5-2 win, avoiding a three-game sweep. The Mets snapped an eight-game losing streak. They needed this win with the Giants and Reds nearby for the third and final National League Wild Card spot with 12 games remaining. And up next three with the San Diego Padres, a team sitting comfortably 5.0 games ahead of the Mets.
But at this juncture the Mets need to mount a winning streak, 12 straight is asking too much. Avoiding losing two-of-three to the Padres, Nationals, White Sox, and Marlins would be devastating. Sweeps at the hands of the latter three would be a certain cinch that sent the Mets home wondering what went wrong after a successful April, May, and into June.
The Alonso walk-off was needed. The Mets dashed from their dugout and awaited Alonso after his 34th home run. Recall last October, Alonso hit that go-ahead three-run homer against the Brewers that inched them to advance to the NLDS and within two games of reaching the World Series after losing to the Dodgers in the NLCS.
That was then, this is now. The Mets know about their shabby bullpen, starting pitching with dependency on three rookies, defensive mistakes, and their overall inconsistent at-bats. They won their first game since September 5th.
The Mets snapped an eight-game losing streak with their win on Sunday against the Rangers at Citi Field – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
As Alonso said, “We need them all at this point. No matter whether it’s today, tomorrow, or however many games we have left. We need as many games as we can. We’ve just got to do the best we can to stack ’em.”
“Oh, sick,” he said about the moment he hit the home run. Partly because of the Mets good beginning of the season and holding a nice share of first place over the Phillies in the NL East, the Mets have been able to be in this slim position of a Wild Card spot and with a Giants loss hold a 1-½ game advantage.
“He’s powerful,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza about Alonso. “All he’s got to do is just tough it pretty much in those situations and the ball’s going to go. Moving forward we got now 12 games to be the best we are.”
After play on Sunday, the Mets sit with a 1.5 game lead for the third and final NL Wild Card spot – Image Credit: Al Pereira/Latino Sports
All along in this losing stretch the Mets have placed an emphasis as to how good they are. It’s all about winning down the stretch and fighting for position in the postseason and in two weeks that will all be determined. The Mets believe they are a playoff team despite their inconsistencies on the field.
Prior to the Mets bullpen squandering a 2-0 lead, rookie Nolan McLean in his sixth big league start gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked two. With an ERA of 1.19, Mendoza almost alluded to monitoring pitch counts for the promising right-hander and was lifted after throwing 92 pitches. Joe Pederson tied the score with a two-run single off Reed Garrett, the bullpen again could not preserve a lead that has been a recurring theme. And with a Mets offense not scoring runs, bullpen management has become an issue for Mendoza.
Reed Garrett surrendered a game-tying single to Rangers’ Joc Pederson in the top of the seventh inning of Sunday’s series finale between Texas and the Mets – Image Credit: Al Pereira/Latino Sports
But the Mets as a whole believe they will get this right against the Padres and Nationals this week before closing out their final homestand of the season.
The win for the Mets, they said it felt like a deep breath. Positive was a scoreless top of the 10th from reliever Ryne Stanek that kept the Mets alive. Alonso got to the plate that scored ghost runner Lindor and intentional walk issued to Soto.
“I was able to step up and help the team there,” said Alonso. “Obviously this is a really important one for us especially to come down the stretch.”
The Mets now have six home games remaining for the 2025 regular season (three vs. San Diego and three vs. the Nationals) – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
And yes, if the Mets can get it all together this stretch will be a fight to reach their goal of racing to the postseason a second consecutive year. Was Alonso the catalyst? More will be known this week at Citi Field.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and columnist at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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