Done Deal;Blue jays and Pete Alonso on 1-year deal which is likely to b……..viewpost

Done Deal;Blue jays and Pete Alonso on 1-year deal which is likely to b……..viewpost

 

MILWAUKEE — No player needed a big moment more than Pete Alonso.

 

Throughout the Mets’ incredible September run to reach the postseason, including their wild doubleheader in Atlanta earlier this week, and the first two games of their NL wild-card series vs. Milwaukee, they’d gotten plenty of big hits. But none had come from their star first basemaIn fact, nothing seemed to be going right for Alonso going into his ninth-inning at-bat in Thursday’s Game 3. His timing looked off; he didn’t look comfortable in the batter’s box. Frankly, with the Mets’ season on the line, there were probably other guys fans wanted up in that moment.

 

But in baseball, especially in the postseason, the moment finds you.

 

“As you watch that game unfold, and we go into the ninth inning facing one of the best closers in the game, and I’m looking to my right, and I see Pete Alonso, and I was like, ‘This could be it,’” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after his squad’s 4-2 victory.

 

The Mets had been dealt one hell of a haymaker going into the ninth inning. Not only did they trail after back-to-back homers in the seventh put Milwaukee up 2-0, but with All-Star closer Devin Williams slated to close out the ninth, the obstacles and the pressure were starting to But as we’ve seen all year, there’s no quit in these Mets. Francisco Lindor got things going with a base hit, a Brandon Nimmo single put runners on the corners, and the stage was set for Alonso.

 

“I wanted to be in that spot,” he said afterward. “I wanted to deliver for my team. I wanted to contribute in a positive way.”

 

Trailing by two, the Mets needed a big swing from the man nicknamed “Polar Bear.” But going into the at-bat, Alonso hadn’t homered since Sept. 19. Worse, in a string of 41 at-bats in that span, he didn’t even have an extra-base hit.

 

“It’s been hard for him the whole year,” Mendoza said. “People talk about wanting more from Pete, and you look at his numbers — it’s a pretty good year. Obviously, the standards and the expectations from him are, like, he should hit 45, 50 homers every year, and it’s not easy.mount.n.