Pete Alonso #20 of the Mets watches his third inning two...

Pete Alonso #20 of the Mets watches his third inning two run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on Friday, May 27, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac

There are plenty of reasons the Mets appreciate Pete Alonso. There’s his enthusiasm and his leadership. There’s the levity he brings to the clubhouse when things are good and the optimism he clings to when things are bad.

But, you know, there also are the numbers. The staggering, increasingly impressive numbers — numbers that helped power the Mets to an 8-6 win over the Phillies on Friday night at Citi Field, and numbers that, after only three-plus seasons in the big leagues, are starting to make a dent in the franchise’s history books.

Alonso went 2-for-2 with a homer, a walk and four RBIs and helped the Mets stave off a six-run Phillies sixth as they avoided what would have been their first three-game losing streak of the season. He is hitting .313 in May, with 28 of his MLB-leading 45 RBIs (in 47 games). His third-inning homer was the 400th hit of his career, and he’s tied for second in the National League with 12 home runs. As for how he stacks up in Mets history, he’s already 29th in RBIs with 294 and tied for 12th in homers with Ed Kranepool at 118.

Alonso is up to five homers and 17 RBIs in 10 games against the Phillies this year.

“That’s the name of the game — be as consistent as possible,” Alonso said. “For me, I haven’t really changed anything. It’s just I feel like I’m executing a little bit better this year. I feel like, for me, having more time and having more understanding of who I am as a player, I feel like that’s helped me execute, but the plan is still the same — get something over the dish and in my zone and don’t really deviate and give in to the pitcher.”

Francisco Lindor went 1-for-2 with two walks and scored three runs. Carlos Carrasco cruised for five scoreless innings but was tripped up by a tough-luck sixth. Edwin Diaz worked around a one-out single in the ninth and struck out Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos to earn his 11th save.

The Mets scored the first seven runs of the game before the Phillies’ sixth-inning rally, and three of those runs came in the first — in part courtesy of the Phillies’ continued defensive woes.

Brandon Nimmo led off with a grounder to short that was thrown away by Bryson Stott and Starling Marte singled. After Bailey Falter walked Lindor to load the bases, Alonso hit a relatively shallow fly ball to right, but with Castellanos playing there instead of Harper, the speedy Nimmo was able to test his arm and win. Escobar added another sacrifice fly and Mark Canha’s RBI single made it 3-0, with all of the runs being unearned against a team that entered the game with -23 defensive runs saved, worst in MLB.

After a nifty diving stop in the second to save at least a run, Alonso quickly contributed on the other side of the ball, mashing Falter’s 81.8-mph slider 400 feet to left for a two-run homer in the third for a 5-0 lead. In the fourth, Alonso’s RBI double made it 7-0.

“There’s not a lot of dips back and forth” with Alonso, Buck Showalter said, applauding his consistency. “He gets a hit and drives in a run, a first one, and he’s trying to get another one and he’s trying to get another one. I won’t say he’s greedy, but he never stops pushing.”

Good thing, too, because the Mets needed every bit. Carrasco allowed four straight singles to lead off the sixth, only one a result of solid contact, as the Phillies quickly scored two runs. Jean Segura’s RBI groundout made it 7-3, and Carrasco walked Odubel Herrera with two outs to put two runners on before being replaced by Chasen Shreve.

Shreve hung a splitter to Stubbs, who homered to make it 7-6. Carrasco had a deceptively bad line: 5  2⁄3 innings, five earned runs, six hits, a walk and seven strikeouts.

The Mets got an insurance run in the sixth, in the form of Marte’s run-scoring groundout. The Phillies managed to get the tying run in scoring position against Joely Rodriguez in the eighth, but Seth Lugo came in with two outs and got J.T. Realmuto to pop out in foul territory.

“It’s something I can’t control,” Carrasco said of the soft-contact runs. “We won the game and that’s what we’re looking for, so I’m happy for that.”

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