The New York Mets’ season was hanging on by a thread.
They trailed the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series on Thursday night, two outs away from elimination. First baseman Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners, looking to keep his team alive, but he was batting just 1-for-8 in October.
Alonso showed discipline at the dish, taking the first four pitches he saw from All-Star closer Devin Williams. Facing a 3-1 count, Alonso finally saw one he liked and decided to let it rip.
The 29-year-old slugger crushed the 86 mile-per-hour changeup to 367 feet right, just barely getting it to clear the fence. All of a sudden, the Mets were up 3-2.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Alonso’s bomb was only the 10th go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game in MLB history. Prior to Thursday, though, none of those came when the player’s team was trailing.
Alonso therefore carved out a spot just for himself in the history books, all while lifting New York to victory.
Starling Marte added an RBI single to make it a 4-2 ballgame, then David Peterson came through with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to eliminate the Brewers. In the process, the Mets punched their ticket to the NLDS, where they will face off with the Philadelphia Phillies.
New York hadn’t won a playoff series since 2015.
Alonso hit .240 with 34 home runs, 88 RBI, a .788 OPS and a 2.6 WAR in the regular season. In many respects, it was the worst year of his big league career, which started back in 2019.
It was an ill-timed off-year for Alonso, who is set to hit free agency this winter.
And yet, Alonso proved Thursday night what makes him so important to the Mets’ lineup. The four-time All-Star has hit more homers than any other player in the National League over the last six seasons with 226, and he now has two in his postseason career as well.
