Pete Alonso is feeling as locked-in as he ever has as a professional, but he knows he’s not the only reason for the New York Mets’ fast start.
The Mets will look to complete a sweep of the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon when the teams close out a four-game series.
Clay Holmes (2-1, 3.66 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mets against Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.13) in a battle of right-handers.
Alonso continued his torrid run on Saturday after ripping a third-inning RBI double and an eighth-inning homer to lead the Mets to a 3-0 win.
Through 21 games, Alonso is batting .356 — a whopping 105 points above his career average — with six homers and 23 RBIs.
Alonso remained on the free agent market until agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with an opt-out after this season on Feb. 12. He said he hasn’t felt this good since his junior year of college at Florida in 2016, shortly before New York selected him in the second round of the draft.
That’s a particularly noteworthy admission coming from Alonso, who hit a rookie-record 53 homers in 2019 and has hit at least 34 homers in every full season that has followed.
“I know 2019, (I) hit a lot of homers, obviously had a phenomenal year that year,” Alonso said. “But from a consistency aspect and controlling the zone, I definitely feel better.”
The Mets have been consistent in all aspects while opening 14-7. The shutout victory on Saturday was the fourth this season for New York, which leads the majors with a 2.27 ERA.
“This team is absolutely playing great ball,” Alonso said. “We’re playing as a unit — defensively, offensively, pitching staff. Everybody’s been doing a phenomenal job so far.”
The trip to New York has magnified the offensive struggles for the Cardinals, who arrived in the Big Apple after scoring 22 runs while going 4-2 in a homestand against the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Cardinals have been blanked twice in their last 10 games and have scored two runs or fewer four other times in that span.
St. Louis has been limited to 14 hits by the Mets and is hitting .194 (7-for-36) with runners on base — including .181 (2-of-11) Saturday, when the Cardinals squandered a pair of prime scoring opportunities.
Thomas Saggese was at third base with nobody out in the fifth before Nolan Gorman struck out and Saggese was thrown out trying to score on a grounder by Yohel Pozo.
In the eighth, Alec Burleson grounded out to second to leave the bases loaded.
“(The Mets) have a good run of arms — it was another tough one today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
Holmes and Gray each earned the win in their previous starts Tuesday night.
Holmes allowed one run on two hits over five innings as the Mets beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1, while Gray tossed seven scoreless frames in the Cardinals’ 8-3 victory over the Astros.
Holmes is 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA and one save in 11 career relief appearances against the Cardinals. Gray is 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
