Is there a better way to start a baseball game than collecting four straight extra-base hits?
“It was good to see the boys coming out of the gate swinging the bat the way they did,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets’ big first inning powered a 9-1 drubbing of the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.
Francisco Lindor, Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez all doubled, but then it was Pete Alonso who cranked a two-run homer off Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber that traveled 471 feet to center.
“I knew I got it, I didn't really know how far it was gonna go, and I'm like 'oh wow.’ That's definitely one of my best bolts," Alonso said of the first of his two home runs on the day. (The second of which traveled 454 feet to right, making Alonso the eighth player since 2015 to hit two homers of 450 feet in the same game.)
For the skipper, even with a deep lineup, Alonso is somebody they expect to carry the team.
"He's been hot-cold at times, but I've been saying it for a long time: he can carry a team for quite a bit, too,” Mendoza said. “We saw it today with two balls that he hit pretty far and that’s who he is. I think a lot of people have seen it before.
“Just hoping that he gets going here and he can show us the type of hitter he is.”
Alonso shrugged off the plaudits and credited the team.
“It’s great, especially when the entire offense was laying off stuff out of the zone,” he said. “I thought today was just a great team effort: pitching was phenomenal, defense was great and offensively it was a really good day for us.”
After hitting two homers in the first three innings, did Alosno let himself start thinking about getting his first career three-homer day?
“Honestly, I just want to keep having good at-bats and do the best I can,” he said. “Just stick to my plan, stick to my approach. Homers can be happy accidents just the result of swinging and capitalizing on a good pitch, hitting it hard to the big part of the field.
“Really happy with how I felt today, how I executed. Not just me, but team-wise, our team approach was superb today. Really great team win.”
Alonso settled for a single and a pair of strikeouts in his final at-bats, but he now has 26 home runs on the year and believes he “for sure” has a big surge in him down the stretch to get to 40 homers.
“[Over] the course of the season there's ebbs and flows, [but], again, ultimately, I just want to help the team win. I just want to help the team win,” he said. “Hopefully I can continue to do that and I just want to be the best I can every single day. Help get this team to the playoffs."
Alonso called 40 dingers a “great milestone,” but reiterated he is more focused on “positively impact each day.”
“Regular season stats its tied to individual effort, but I want that effort to go towards team wins,” he said.
The next step for the Mets is a three-game weekend series in the Pacific Northwest against a Seattle Mariners side with a very stingy pitching staff that leads MLB with a 3.51 team ERA and are tops with a 3.31 ERA for their starters.
“I know they got pretty good young arms and I remember facing them last year and all their guys seem to have pretty good stuff,” Alonso said of the Mariners. “I’ll be prepared, I think all of us will be prepared. They got good arms and we’re gonna do the best we can to execute approaches and continue to have good at-bats.”