The theory behind lineup protection suggests Pete Alonso’s looming presence behind Juan Soto should help Soto see more strikes, opposing pitchers striving to avoid facing Alonso with a runner on base.
A related hypothesis: When Soto is walked, perhaps Alonso is helped by the appearance of disrespect.
Alonso certainly seemed to take it personally when the Marlins intentionally walked Soto to load the bases in Tuesday’s sixth inning.
Two pitches later, Alonso drilled a three-run double that fired up the club’s dugout on a frigid day and provided all the insurance the Mets would need in a 10-5 win in front of an announced attendance (and certainly not an actual attendance at a mostly empty Citi Field) of 28,861 teeth-chattering fans.
Mets fans can be forgiven for staying away from a game whose start time was shifted into the afternoon to avoid the deepest chills — and it still officially began at 42 degrees and windy. But the Mets’ previously quiet lineup gave the intimate gathering something to cheer, most notably a sixth straight victory.
Francisco Lindor led off with a homer into the upper deck in right field. Clay Holmes did not quite stitch together the kind of complete, efficient game he has sought, but he was often untouchable and showed off his best stuff in three starts.
But the loudest moment arrived when the Marlins refused to pitch to the Mets’ $765 million superstar.
Having gotten to Holmes and attempted fireman Huascar Brazobán for three runs in the top of the sixth inning to narrow the Mets lead to 6-5, the Marlins needed to escape the bottom of the inning.
Brett Baty reached on an infield single. Hayden Senger’s sacrifice bunt accidentally became a single when the Marlins showed hesitation in who should field it. And after a Lindor flyout, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough brought in righty Ronny Henriquez and opted to put Soto on first base, loading the bases for the Mets’ best hitter through nearly two weeks.
Alonso responded with an outfield-splitting and bases-clearing double into left-center, and the Mets (8-3) could coast into a third straight series victory.
“It seems like teams are trying not to get beat on Soto,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game, “and then before you know it, they’re making mistakes with Pete, and he’s been ready to go and making them pay.”
As the game ended, Alonso — who also launched an RBI double in the third — was third in MLB with 15 runs batted in through just 11 games.
After a relatively down 2024 season that sent him into a quiet free agency, which ended with his accepting $30 million from the Mets and essentially betting on himself this season, Alonso has done well in the early days of trying to make that bet hit.
For a Mets lineup that had not yet fully clicked, Alonso was not alone: Every starter (plus pinch runner Luisangel Acuña) recorded at least one hit except Tyrone Taylor (who was robbed by center fielder Derek Hill on a diving play at the warning track that saved three runs).
Mets pitching, which has been their strength, was more intriguing than excellent.
Holmes was better than his line (four runs in 5 ¹/₃ innings) suggested. The former Yankees reliever struck out 10 and punched out five in a row at one point, the dominance sandwiched between struggles in the first and final frame.
In Holmes’ first inning, he continually blew on his right hand and appeared unable to get a grip, which might have led to a Griffin Conine walk and Otto Lopez four-pitch walk that loaded the bases. Liam Hicks’ single scored two.
The Mets would come back, and so would Holmes. Using his full arsenal of pitches — the sinker that became his trademark offering with the Yankees was thrown fourth most — Holmes settled in. His fourth inning was his sharpest, when his 0-2 ball to Liam Hicks was the only pitch that stopped him from throwing an immaculate inning (in which nine pitches are needed to strike out three).
He struck out two of three Marlins batters in the fifth on an afternoon when his kick-change (three), slider (three), four-seamer (five) and sweeper (two) all drew multiple whiffs.
He allowed two to reach (on a walk and double) with one out in the sixth before getting lifted for Brazobán, who allowed a run on a groundout before Hill’s homer brought the Marlins within one.
Alonso ensured they would get no closer.
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