Joon LeeESPN May 18, 2023 12:17am ET4 minutes read
Pete Alonso smashes walk-off HR in Mets second deck
Pete Alonso smashes one on the second deck for a 3-run home run that closes out the Mets at the end of the 10th court.
NEW YORK — The Mets needed some spark, all after falling below .500 in their worst three games of the season on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, it came in the form of a walk-off home run from Pete Alonso that electrified the Mets with the team’s best moment of the season.
Alonso hit his fourth career walkoff home run in a 10-inning 8-7 win over the juggernaut Tampa Bay Rays, a back-and-forth contest in which the Mets’ bullpen allowed six runs in four innings .
“We had a lot of comeback wins last year, but we’re a different team,” said Alonso. “We need to establish that identity and it was exciting to achieve that win.”
The Mets struggled to get their racquets going against Tampa Bay starter Josh Fleming, who threw five innings scoreless, conceded three hits and two walks and had five strikeouts. Their first runs didn’t come until the seventh inning when third baseman Mark Vientos – who was playing his first major league game of the season after being called up earlier Wednesday – hit a home run by Rays-Relief Ryan Thompson, who was just over the middle slipped. Field fence to the score of 2:2.
Vientos didn’t expect the ball to leave the court.
“I said, ‘Go Ball, go, go, go,'” Vientos said. “Maybe it was listening to me.”
The Rays fired back immediately, and second baseman Brandon Lowe hit a two-run shot against Mets relief player Adam Ottavino in the eighth set to level the game 4-2. In the ninth game, Tampa Bay extended the lead to 5-2 when Randy Arozarena hit a lone groundball that hit Josh Lowe.
But the evening in New York was not over yet. The Mets stormed back with a three-run home run from catcher Francisco Alvarez, who tied the game 5-5 and sent it into extra innings.
Tampa Bay ended the tie right away in the 10th inning when Rays pinch hitter Harold Ramirez hit an RBI single in midfield and hit Taylor Walls. The Rays soon added an insurance run with an RBI single from Josh Lowe that extended the lead to 7-5.
The Mets recalled their 2022 tendency to recover from deficits in the bottom half of the innings when Jeff McNeil started with a single that put ghost runner Brandon Nimmo in third place and two runners for Alonso on the base brought. The slugger then drove a pitch from Rays closer Pete Fairbanks into left midfield, hitting his 15th home run of the year and the Mets’ most dramatic win of the season.
“For the players, I know how painful that stretch was,” said manager Buck Showalter. “They deserve to experience a moment like this.”
After the game, Showalter mentioned that Alonso felt “sick as a dog,” adding that most players with the condition would not have played. Alonso didn’t question whether he would play.
“As long as I’m physically able to play, my job title is baseball,” Alonso said. “I want to be there for my team.”
The Mets put on a strong performance from starter Kodai Senga, who ran six innings, had 12 strikeouts and conceded three hits, three walks and one run. Though he occasionally went wild trying to find the attacking zone, the performance proved enough to keep New York in the game.
The Mets have an opportunity in Thursday’s series finals against the Rays to earn their first series win since April.