The New York Mets are fighting for their postseason lives in Game 3 of the Wild Card Round against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was scoreless through six, but a disastrous seventh inning turned the tides in Milwaukee's favor.
Jose Butto subbed in for Jose Quintana and immediately surrendered back-to-back home runs to Jake Bauers and Sam Frelick. Then, Edwin Diaz took the mound and allowed two walks, followed by a couple stolen bases. So, with two outs, New York had runners on second and third base with William Contreras at the plate.
A strong pitch from Diaz forced a Contreras popup in foul territory on the first base side. Pete Alonso, hovering close to the net, appeared to have it under control — an easy third out to get out of the jam.
Nope. Alonso, with fans screaming in his face and the weight of the Mets' season on his shoulders, misplayed it.
This Pete Alonso misplay would've been INFAMOUS if Diaz didn't get out of the inning pic.twitter.com/JFzGRRU6dH
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 4, 2024
Pete Alonso has Mets fans despondent after disastrous seventh inning vs. Brewers
Luckily Diaz worked his way out of the inning, but this was just the pinnacle of a bad night for Alonso (at the time), whose Mets career could be coming to a close this year. Few players have been more beloved in Queens this past decade, but Alonso could not have picked a worse time to fall utterly flat.
tough scenes pic.twitter.com/TLSjfDNkzU
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2024
Pete Alonso is trying to have the worst last game with the Mets of all-time
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) October 4, 2024
Goodbye pete alonso 👋👋
— patrick (@patrickhosford) October 4, 2024
It wasn't just the dropped catch for Alonso. He struck out in the top of the inning to drop to 0-for-3 on the night. It had been a rough series all around for Alonso, whose patented slugging has been conspicuously absent from the Mets' scorecard after each game.
Alonso's whole season has been defined by inconsistency, but it came to a head Thursday night. It sure sounds like fans are tired of the Polar Bear experience.
I haven’t seen anything quite like this Pete Alonso spiral. It’s just sad.
— Sean Fennessey (@SeanFennessey) October 4, 2024
While in the process of writing this article, Alonso changed his fortunes (and the Mets fortunes) with a huge go-ahead, three-run bomb in the ninth inning. Call it a reverse jinx, call it fate, but Alonso's night is proof that even the most egregious mistakes can be overcome. That 'next play' mentality is what seperates the good players from the great players, and Alonso didn't allow his funk to impact a critical, season-saving at-bat.
The Mets' first baseman has earned his share of flack over the years, but he's one of the best power hitters of his generation and he put that power on full display at the perfect moment.