At home, Pete Alonso has the opportunity to create history.
Alonso ties Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record with 252 career home runs going into the Mets’ six-game homestand.
When the Mets start a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on Tuesday night, he will have another chance to break the team’s all-time home run record.
At Citi Field on Tuesday, when Alonso had 251 home runs, manager Carlos Mendoza remarked, “It will be nice to do it here in front of our home fan base.”
It will be unique to accomplish it here at Citi Field, but I obviously don’t want to put too much pressure on him. I want him to be himself and go out there. It will occur.
In the last two games of the Mets’ previous homestand, 30-year-old Alonso failed to hit a home run. He went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in Sunday’s series finale against the Brewers after tying Strawberry’s decades-old mark on Saturday night in Milwaukee.
At Citi Field, where he has hit 12 of his 26 home runs this season, that created the conditions for Alonso to perhaps reach No. 253.
Alonso stated on August 2 at Citi Field after hitting No. 250 that “the record is obviously something that is really special and meaningful, but right now in the heat of it, I’m not too focused on that.”
Wins and everything I can do to assist this team win each game are my only priorities. We are now in the middle of a playoff race. In the off-season or whenever I have free time, I’ll consider everything else.
Over the weekend in Milwaukee, the Mets (63-55) were swept. They’ve dropped 11 of their previous 12 games and seven straight.
The Mets had dropped into the third and final NL wild card slot going into Monday, trailing the Philadelphia Phillies by 5.5 games in the National League East.
The Cincinnati Reds, who started Monday just 1.5 games behind the Mets for the last wild card spot, will play the Phillies this week.
The Mets will play a three-game set against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend to finish their homestand following their series against the Braves.
In seven of the Braves’ games this season, Alonso has failed to hit a home run. During this week’s series in Queens, Atlanta will start right-handers Spencer Strider (5-9, 4.04 ERA), Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 6.18 ERA), and Bryce Elder (4-9, 6.12 ERA).
Alonso has hit a home run once in eight at-bats against Elder and once in 17 at-bats against Strider during his career. Carrasco, a 2021–23 teammate of Alonso, has never faced Alonso.
The franchise’s single-season home run record, which he established as a rookie in 2019 with 53, is already held by Alonso, a homegrown Met in his seventh MLB season. He has accomplished this three times, making him the first Met to have three seasons with at least 40 home runs.
In his 963rd game, he hit his 252nd home run. Strawberry played 1,109 games with the Mets and concluded with the same total.
After Alonso tied Strawberry’s record, Francisco Lindor remarked, “Everyone here was happy for him.” I’m aware that he doesn’t discuss it much, but I’m sure he wanted it, and it’s excellent that he was able to do it.
