Pete Alonso made New York Mets history on Tuesday night when he became the franchise’s all-time home run leader.
In the process, he might have helped the Mets snap out of an extended tailspin.
The Mets will look to earn their first series win in more than two weeks on Wednesday when they host the Atlanta Braves in the middle contest of a three-game set.
Left-hander David Peterson (7-5, 2.98 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Braves right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 6.18).
Alonso homered twice on his milestone night Tuesday, helping the Mets earn a 13-5 win over the Braves.
Alonso’s first homer, which was the 253rd of his career and broke a tie atop the all-time New York list with Darryl Strawberry, sparked a much-needed offensive outburst by the Mets. New York ended a seven-game losing streak while improving to 2-8 this month and 19-31 since June 13.
The 13 runs were the most for the Mets since June 8, when they also beat the Colorado Rockies 13-5. New York also tied a season-high Tuesday with six homers. Francisco Alvarez went deep twice while Brandon Nimmo and Brett Baty each hit a round-tripper.
The Mets’ top four batters — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Nimmo and Alonso — finished a combined 7-for-18.
“It’s kind of rare for everybody to go into a slump all together, especially Juan, Pete, myself and Lindor,” Nimmo said. “And I said, well, I hope something really rare happens and we all get hot together as well. And so tonight was an amazing example of that and it was really fun to watch.
“Not every game’s going to be like that, but you enjoy the ones that are.”
The loss continued a frustrating second half in a trying season for the Braves, who mounted a four-run rally in the fourth inning to briefly tie the game at 5-5.
The Braves have given up five runs or more 16 times in 24 games since the All-Star break — a span in which they are 9-15, the second-worst mark in the National League ahead of only the San Francisco Giants.
Atlanta, which lost when scoring at least five runs for just the third time in the second half, is 51-68 and likely to finish under .500 for the first time since 2017 — the last time the Braves missed the playoffs.
“I want to win, first and foremost,” said starter Spencer Strider, who tied a career-high by allowing eight runs over four innings. “I don’t care what our record is. There are people that put a lot of effort into the outcome of our games, in here and all over the place. So I think that matters and I think it’s important to keep that perspective, that regardless of when our season ends, that every game we play is a representation of who we are.”
Peterson took the loss in his most recent start Aug. 6, when he allowed four runs over six innings as the Mets fell to the Cleveland Guardians, 4-1. Carrasco didn’t factor into the decision last Thursday after giving up six runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Braves’ 8-6 win over the Miami Marlins.
Peterson is 3-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 12 career games (11 starts) against the Braves. Carrasco, who played for the Mets from 2021 through 2023, made his lone appearance against New York on Sept. 7, when he tossed 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief for Cleveland in a 9-4 victory.
-Field Level Media
