The Polar Bear is two bombs away from becoming the Mets home run king.
No. 251 brought the Mets back to within two runs of tying the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night at Citi Field. A 4-for-5 night with four RBI helped the Mets go from down five runs to down two, to down only one, and sparked the rally that tied the game.
But after a valiant comeback effort, Pete Alonso struck out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and an error by third baseman Brett Baty in the top of the 10th handed the Guardians back the lead.
The Mets fell 7-6 in 10 innings to start the series, their sixth loss in seven tries.
At 63-50, they’re now 2.0 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.
Alonso’s three-run homer came in the bottom of the sixth, right after left-hander Sean Manaea imploded for five runs in the top of the inning. With runners on the corners, Slade Cecconi threw him a sinker up and in on the first pitch of the at-bat. The ball carried to right-center field, with all of Citi Field on their feet and waving their hands, as if they could push the ball out over the fence themselves.
It worked. It carried just enough to make it into the seats, 388 feet to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The polar power continued in the bottom of the eighth. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto singled off right-hander Hunter Gaddis to lead off, once again putting runners on the corners with no outs for Alonso. This time, all he needed was a ball in play. A line drive down the left side did the trick, and Lindor came home easily to make it 5-4.
Jeff McNeil’s single off Gaddis loaded the bases, and Soto scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Vientos to tie the game.
Gaddis got out of the inning with some luck and guile. Cedric Mullins sent a screaming grounder to the right side, but second baseman Roc Roccio made a stop. Baty grounded out to second to leave runners on second and third.
The Guardians had a runner on third in the top of the ninth, but closer Edwin Diaz worked around it to keep the game tied.
Right-hander Cade Smith (4-4) loaded the bases with only one out to bring up Alonso in the bottom of the ninth with one out. He was primed for heroics, but he struck out. McNeil lined one right to Gabriel Arias at shortstop, leaving the bases loaded and the game tied.
Newly-acquired right-hander Ryan Helsley (3-2) intentionally walked Jose Ramirez in the next inning, and got David Fry to hit one on the ground. Baty tried to turn a double play and threw it right past Lindor, allowing the automatic runner to score and Ramirez to make it to third, where he was able to score the game-winner on a deep fly to right field by Arias.
Facing the order the third time through for the first time proved tough for Manaea. After battling Cecconi for five scoreless innings, a single and a hit batter in the top of the sixth got him into a jam. Steven Kwan scored on a sac fly, and Fry and Carlos Santana each hit singles to make it 2-0. Arias teed off on an 0-1 changeup for a three-run homer to make it 5-0.
Nolan Jones struck out for the second out, but a single by Rocchio ended Manaea’s night after five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. Left-hander Brooks Raley came in for the third out.
Cecconi went six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits, walking one and striking out six.
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