The weather at Citi Field might have been chilly all weekend, but it did little too cool Pete Alonso‘s hot start to the season.
The first baseman went 2-for-3 with an RBI single Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, helping the Mets to a 2-1 win for the first series sweep of the season. The Amazin’s have now won four in a row and six of their last seven.
Alonso drove in his 11th run this season with a third-inning single off right-hander Bowden Francis. The Mets’ leader in single-season RBI with 131 in 2022, Alonso once again appears to be driving in runs at a high rate. He’s currently tied for second in the NL with four others, including former Mets infielder Wilmer Flores.
With two on and one out, Alonso hit a line drive to left field to score Hayden Senger and give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Brandon Nimmo scored Juan Soto with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Soto, who reached on a walk, extended his on-base streak to nine games.
While the top of the order has been productive, the Mets have gotten little from the middle or the bottom.
The Mets chased Francis from the game in the bottom of the sixth, with the Blue Jay bringing in Chad Green to face the 6-8 hitters. Mark Vientos walked to load the bases with one out, but Brett Baty struck out and Jose Siri popped up to center field to leave them loaded.
However, the bullpen is there to protect leads, and the Mets were once again able to rely on it, especially after losing starter David Peterson early.
Peterson cruised through five innings before appearing to get injured in the fifth after hitting Andres Gimenez with the bases loaded. Right-hander Max Kranick came in to get the third out.
Catcher Tyler Heineman took a leadoff double off Peterson before the lefty retired the Nos. 9 and 1 hitters. After walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Peterson came off the mound bent over, appearing to be in pain. The trainers came out to attend to him, ultimately allowing him to stay in the game after watching him throw a few pitches to Senger.
But Peterson had lost his control. He walked Anthony Santander on five pitches and hit Gimenez with the first pitch of the at-bat.
Kranick got Alejandro Kirk to pop out to Senger in foul territory to end the inning. The right-hander extended his scoreless inning streak to seven innings with 1 1/3 against Toronto. Reed Garrett pitched the seventh and A.J. Minter took over in the eighth, setting up the save for Edwin Diaz, who hit two batters in the ninth but got Guerrero to roll over on a slider, grounding into a force-out for his second save on the year.
Peterson allowed one earned run on three hits, walked five, hit one and struck out three over 4 2/3 innings, but didn’t stay in the game long enough to be eligible for the win. That went to Kranick (1-0), his first in the Major Leagues since 2021.
Francis went 5 2/3 innings, holding the Mets to two earned runs in the loss (1-1).
