Mets get Subway Series win over Yankees after Pete Alonso hits two home runs – The Denver Post

Pete Alonso went 12 games without a home run. Then he uncorked two of them Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium to help the Mets defeat the Yankees, 9-3, in the third game of the Subway Series. The Mets have a 2-1 lead in the series, which started last month with two games at Citi Field and will conclude this week with two in the Bronx.

The Amazins’ started the day 7.5 games back from an NL Wild Card playoff spot. The team knows they have a steep mountain to climb to get into playoff contention and that this is their last chance to stave off a fire sale. If they’re going to climb this mountain, they need their best players to play to carry them up.

Alonso, who now has 29 home runs, has to be one of those players.

“We’re at that point now where every series is a big series and we need to take as many wins as possible,” Alonso said.

It’s pretty wild to think that the team that boasts a historically high payroll is even contemplating selling talent at the deadline, but even wilder to think that the fate of the rest of the season is coming down to a few games, two of them against the Yankees. But for now, their hopes are alive thanks to the Mets’ core hitters. Alonso went 3-for-4 with five RBI, two home runs and a walk. Francisco Lindor went 3-for-5 and scored three times. Jeff McNeil went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double.

“Jeff, very quietly, is starting to show some things,” said manager Buck Showalter. “He’s always hit well in this ballpark, he’s always hit well in Fenway, and I know you’re not supposed to look at that too much, but if you want to look at one stat that people follow, it’s by the ballpark. Guys that have been around for a while still care about it.”

The ultra-competitive McNeil cares intensely about hitting at every park. But like Alonso, McNeil, the 2023 NL batting champ, has been marred by deep slumps this season. Hits from last year have become outs this year because of the new shift restrictions and McNeil’s frustration has been obvious on the field.

He drove in two with a double off Ron Marinaccio in the ninth.

“Jeff was huge for us,” Alonso said. “I think that last at-bat, second and third, him getting that ball down the right field line and getting those extra two insurance runs for us were massive. That was big time.”

With two on and two out in the third and the Mets leading 1-0, right-hander Domingo Germán threw Alonso a belt-high fastball. It was a meatball of a pitch and he did what good hitters do with meatballs. The slugger drove it over the left-field fence to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

Alonso led off the fifth with a monster 431-foot shot to straightaway center field. It registered as 109.8 MPH off the bat.

Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach then hit one into the bleachers. It was only his seventh of the year but his second in his last four starts. It’s been tough for the Mets to continually justify using the scuffling slugger and at one point, the situation became so dire that he was benched for a week and given a “mental break” of sorts. The Mets chose to play short-handed without him, which shows how much the front office values the analytical darling. But the good news is that Vogelbach is getting the ball in the air more often. And Alonso is 9-for-19 (.474) with five runs, two doubles, one triple, two home runs and six RBI in his last five games.

This came after a dismal stretch that he said was the worst of his career. After coming back from a wrist injury, Alonso hit just .147 with a .611 OPS in his last 20 games before the All-Star break.

“For me, I don’t want to be driven by results because baseball is a game of failure,” Alonso said. “I’m a big believer in the process but when you put so much in and you don’t really get a lot out, it’s really difficult. But for me, I was really happy I was able to do the best I could within my abilities and do the best I could to help the team win.”

For once, the pitching cooperated. That hasn’t often been the case this season. The bullpen gave up three runs over the seventh and eighth. It bent and it cracked, but the dam didn’t fully break.

That’s the other part that’s going to have to work if the Mets are going to be able to make a run. The bullpen can’t blow leads and the starters have to go deep enough to reduce the chances of a late-game blowup.

It’s not going to be easy, but if the Mets’ biggest stars play like stars then they might have a shot.

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