ST. LOUIS — Pete Alonso certainly looked like Pete Alonso on Tuesday, making two big swings that may signal his return.
Brandon Nimmo’s big home run tied the game in the fifth inning, followed by hits by Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor, and Alonso fired a shot to right-center field, then immediately stood at second base, pounding his chest as he headed towards his teammates in the dugout. he gestured.
Alonso’s double knock gave them the winning goal.
He hit a home run in the ninth inning, helping the Mets win 7-5 against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Alonso, who entered the game with one hit in 30 at-bats, ended his 12-game hitless streak with a double.
The Mets scored all but one run in that frenetic fifth inning that sent 11 batters to the plate.
“I’m really glad I was able to have a positive impact on the game,” Alonso said after the Mets won their second straight game. “It was a great team victory.”
Alonso’s home run was his ninth of the season and his first since hitting his 200th career home run on April 27th against the Cardinals.
“It’s always good to get results, but at some point he’ll get out of it,” coach Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s too good as a hitter and as a player to stay like this. It’s a credit to him and the coaches and they keep working. He always wants to be there, even when it’s tough. And it was great to see him play a really good game for us today.”
The Mets (18-18) had the combination of Cole Sulcer, Sean Reid-Foley, Jorge Lopez, Reid Garrett and Adam Ottavino give up two points in four frames to Jose Butto in the final innings. I survived.
Ottavino allowed a home run to Lars Notevaar in the ninth inning to put the tying run on base, then struck out Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson to end the game.
Lopez retired Nolan Arenado in the seventh inning to avoid a base-loaded situation, and then struck out Goldschmidt to preserve the Mets’ two-run lead.
Butt survived a turbulent first inning and led the Mets to the fifth inning. Overall, he allowed three earned runs on five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts.
“It was a struggle for him, especially with his fastball,” Mendoza said. “The two-seamer, he couldn’t find it. But he kept pitching. I thought the secondary was what kept him in the game. He scored five times and we The fact that he kept him in the game is a compliment to him.”
Butt was attacked in the first inning, when the Cardinals sent seven batters to the plate and scored three runs. However, he allowed only three runners over the next four innings.
After Brendan Donovan hit a home run to lead off the Cardinals, Notover walked and Willson Contreras hit a drive to left field that deflected off the glove of DJ Stewart for a double. After Arenado added one run on a sacrifice fly, Burleson hit an RBI homer to put the Mets up 3-0.
Butt walked Brandon Crawford in the second inning and allowed a single to Michael Ciani, but got away with three consecutive outs.
Nimmo hit a 440-foot rocket to center field against Miles Mikolas in the fifth inning for a three-run homer to tie the score at 3-3. The outburst occurred the night after Nimmo’s seventh-inning home run gave the Mets the decisive score.
Tomas Nido’s shot of the night hit Arenado’s glove, and Jeff McNeil hit a bloop single to lead off the fifth point. Nimmo followed with his fifth home run of the season.
A new rally began in the first inning, starting with a double by Marte that hit the left-field fence, followed by a single by Lindor. Alonso then hit a two-run double, giving the Mets a 5-3 lead. Martinez’s RBI single (the Mets’ seventh hit of the inning) brought Alonso in. The Mets’ six runs were the most in an inning this season. McNeil’s third hit of the game extended the inning, and Nido, the 11th batter of the inning, was retired with the final out.
Sulser was hit with a home run by Burleson in the sixth inning, giving the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. He got another breather with Alonso’s home run in the ninth inning.
“I’m just trying to get back to hitting the ball hard to the majority of the field,” Alonso said. “That’s the goal every time, so it’s just a matter of when it happens.”
