Pete Alonso homers twice to power Mets past Dodgers
Mets' Pete Alonso, left, watches his two-run home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, second from right, looks on during the third inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 4, 2022. Credit: Alex Gallardo
LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium’s Home Run Derby isn’t until next month, but Pete Alonso loves hitting here so much that he got started early on Saturday night.
He swatted two long balls — giving him three in the series — in the Mets’ 9-4 win over the Dodgers, snapping their losing skid (if it qualified as such) at two games. Through 55 games, Alonso has 53 RBIs and 16 homers.
The first, a two-run shot to leftfield that ended Walker Buehler’s night after 2 1⁄3 innings, put the Mets (36-19) back on top after the Dodgers (35-18) took a three-run lead in the previous half-inning. The second, a low laser just over the right-centerfield wall for three runs against Brusdar Graterol, gave the Mets significant breathing room.
Those pushed Alonso into a tie with Kevin McReynolds for 10th on the Mets’ all-time homers list with 122. Up next: Todd Hundley at 124 and Lucas Duda at 125.
“That’s sick,” Alonso said. “I didn’t know that. I want to keep it going.”
Alonso also became the first player ever to hit seven homers in his first 11 career games at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s an honor to play here, knowing all those types of names and people that came before me,” he said. “It’s a very humbling stat.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “Special. He seems to be dialing up what we need . . . Pete’s a strong man. He collides with a ball, it goes places where you can’t defend it.”
The Dodgers will host the Derby on July 18. Alonso, who has won the past two homer-hitting contests, is expected to be present to defend his crown along with his self-proclaimed title as “the best power hitter on the planet.”
“I still haven’t gotten an invite yet,” Alonso said with a knowing smile.
The Mets hit four home runs, tying their high on the season. Francisco Lindor and Eduardo Escobar also went deep.
Neither starting pitcher escaped the fourth frame.
Buehler gave up five runs in 2 1⁄3 innings, the shortest start of his career. Lindor ended a nine-pitch at-bat in the first inning with a home run to rightfield, his first hit (and fifth at-bat) since fracturing the tip of his right middle finger when it got caught in a hotel door Wednesday night. Alonso capped a four-run rally in the third with his first homer.
That was satisfying for Alonso, a University of Florida product who did not perform well against Buehler, formerly of Vanderbilt, during their SEC days.
“He did really well against me in college. Like, really well. I didn’t want that to happen again in the future,” Alonso said. “Learning from failure is extremely important. Once you figure something out, then you got him. For me it’s finding that release point and finding that window where the ball is coming from. Because he’s got a very unique delivery with plus stuff. I’ve learned to see the ball really well off him.”
Mets lefthander David Peterson lasted 3 2⁄3 innings and yielded four runs (one earned). But his most interesting moment didn’t come until the very end.
Showalter allowed Peterson to face Mookie Betts with a runner on second and two outs in the fourth but let him throw only one pitch. Betts — who in his previous plate appearances sent a scorching line drive to left for an out and a scorching line drive to right-center for a three-run double — roped a hard foul ball down the leftfield line.
That was enough for Showalter. He walked to the mound and pulled Peterson, in the middle of the at-bat, for rookie righthander Colin Holderman. Peterson appeared to mutter a vulgarity on his way back to the dugout.
“Mookie was on everything he was throwing,” Showalter said. “It was obvious he was real comfortable there. But Pete made some good pitches. I know it was a short outing for him. Just didn’t like where that at-bat was headed.”
Holderman got Betts to strike out looking at a full-count cutter over the heart of the plate. After the inning, Peterson headed down the tunnel, blowing off Showalter and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who looked as if they wanted to chat.
“I have full trust in him. I love playing for the guy,” Peterson said. “There’s always going to be times where you’re frustrated. It is what it is. But at the end of the day, it’s his call. He made the right decision. Holderman got us out of the inning.”
Showalter said: “He had 90 pitches to get through deeper. We gave him a lot of opportunities. I hope he was disappointed.”
Earlier, Peterson had trouble only in the second, when Los Angeles kept the inning going long enough — walk, weak single against the shift, Alonso throwing error, walk — to bring Betts to the plate with two outs. He shot a bases-loaded double to right-center.
In the top of the ninth, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sought to insert position player Zach McKinstry as the pitcher in a five-run game. By rule, a position player cannot pitch unless the lead/deficit is at least six runs. According to Showalter, who said he did not initiate the rule enforcement, the umpires told the Dodgers they could not do that, the Dodgers asked them to check with MLB’s central office in New York, they did, and the rule was applied correctly. That caused an 11-minute delay.
“We won today against a really good team,” Showalter said, exasperated by the situation and surprised by the number of questions about it. “And God bless everybody.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
