PHILADELPHIA – Pete Alonso has been at his best when it matters the most, raising his play when the moment calls for it.
After the Mets dropped three of four to the Braves, a divisional matchup with the rising Phillies certainly mattered, so the first baseman responded.
Alonso drove in his 100th run and crushed his 30th home run of the season to jump-start the Mets on Friday night in a 7-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park, where the Mets bounced back nicely after dropping their first series to an NL East opponent this year.
The Mets (77-43) remained 3 1/2 games up on the Braves, who beat the Astros.
Alonso came up with a runner in scoring position three times and succeeded twice, providing the bulk of the offense to back a solid Chris Bassitt and effective Mets bullpen.
In the first inning, Alonso (3-for-5) got the job done with an assist to Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm. The Mets had runners on the corners with one out, and Alonso knocked a ground ball to Bohm, whose throw to second base skipped into right field.
There was less luck involved in the third inning, when Alonso – with two outs and Starling Marte on third – drilled a homer to left off Aaron Nola. Alonso had three RBIs (and 102 on the season) before the Phillies had one.
Alonso has sizzled in the clutch, raising his OPS to 1.125 with runners in scoring position, the seventh-best in baseball upon the completion of the game.
The Mets added another run in the third by honoring the Massapequa Coast team and pulling a Little League play. With runners on the corners, Francisco Lindor took off for second. When Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto threw down, Marte sprinted from third to home. A perfect throw might have nabbed him, but Bryson Stott’s relay back to Realmuto was placed on the first-base side, and Marte slid home safely.
The Mets tacked on in the seventh thanks to rookie Brett Baty and Buck Showalter. They loaded the bases, and the manager curiously pinch-ran the slow Darin Ruf in place of the slightly slower Daniel Vogelbach at second base. The move looked genius when Baty came through with a two-out single into right field, and the sliding Ruf narrowly beat Nick Castellanos’ throw.
Alonso & Co.’s work made Bassitt’s stand up. Bassitt went six strong innings in which he allowed two runs and gutted through 104 pitches. Bassitt has pitched four times against the Phillies this season, totaling 22 2/3 innings of four-run ball (1.59 ERA).
Bassitt extended his streak of not allowing an earned run to 28 innings before Philadelphia finally capitalized on a chance in the fifth inning.
Bassitt hit Matt Vierling before Bradley Zimmer’s perfectly placed slow grounder down the third-base line went for a double. Notorious Mets-killer Kyle Schwarber singled in two runs, but the Phillies’ scoring would stop there.
Bassitt was not perfect but, like Alonso, was big when needed. He allowed seven hits and hit two batters but forced Philadelphia to leave seven on base. Opposing hitters are 19-for-101 (.188) with runners in scoring position this season against Bassitt, who lowered his ERA to 3.26.
Bassitt handed off to Adam Ottavino, who passed off to Joely Rodriguez, who threw a scoreless eighth before Trevor May threw a scoreless ninth.
Before their doubleheader Saturday, the Mets were fortunate to be able to stay away from Edwin Diaz.
They also were fortunate to have Alonso.
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