Pete Alonso is one homer away from history.
Monday night against the Guardians, Alonso sent another ball to the stands in the bottom of the sixth inning for the 251st of his career — all with the Mets.
With that home run, Alonso now sits just one shy of Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record of 252.
It took Strawberry, who represented the Mets as an All-Star seven times and finished in the top three in National League MVP balloting two times, 1,109 games from 1983-90.
Alonso, who debuted in 2019, is ready to surpass the record in fewer than 1,000 games.
Alonso’s lone homer was just one part of a masterful night at the plate for the typical everyday first baseman, who started at DH. He went 4-for-5 with four RBIs in the 10-inning, 7-6 loss to the Guardians.
“I was just on time today,” Alonso said. “Body felt good, and just felt in sync and on time today.”
His bat was a spark plug for what was a lethargic Mets offense before the sixth inning.
His three-run home run was what opened the scoring for the Mets after they saw a scoreless game turn into a five-run deficit in the blink of an eye.
In the eighth, Alonso stepped up and hit an RBI single that put the game within one run. Then, with the game tied and the bases loaded in the ninth, Alonso had a chance to end it, but he struck out swinging.
Some might think that was the most frustrating part of the night for Alonso. He thought otherwise.
“To be honest, it’d be more frustrating if we didn’t do anything, if we just kind of lay down right there,” Alonso said. “So I think it would be more frustrating that way.”
Even though Alonso did not come through in the ninth, manager Carlos Mendoza thought it was still a good night for the slugger.
“It’s a perfect night for Pete, all the way until that last at bat,” Mendoza said. “They threw fastballs by him there and they got him.”
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