MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso saved his team, his season and perhaps his future as a New York Met with a dramatic, huge bat swing.
Someone had to do it. I should have known someone would do it. That's how this group works.
This 2024 Mets team is Team Resilient. Pundits were having a hard time picking a winner in the winner-take-all game between the Mets and Brewers. Because one team is more resilient than the next.
It turns out the Mets won that title.
All they needed was a hero. The fact that it was Alonso, a great slugger, a lifetime player for the Met (so far) and who looked like a glove-first singles hitter for weeks, made the win and the story even better.
Alonso's 3-run homer in the 9th inning led to a 4-2 come-from-behind victory that will go down in history. As they say, you have to believe. But who would have believed this time, giving up multiple runs, going eight straight innings of good work, and facing perhaps the best closer in the league?
“I couldn't believe it…I was in shock and awe,” Brandon Nimmo said honestly.
This was a real surprise even by their standards. But the truth is, nothing is holding this team back.
The 0-5 start was just a moment. Their record of 22 wins and 33 losses through late May is just a slight change in speed.
The must-win Game 161 deficit in Atlanta was easily overcome. Games 1 and 3 here were similar.
This was the most appropriate way for a Mets team to trade cheese land for cheese steaks to advance to the Division Series.
“This is the story of our season, about going down and finding a way to get back up,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
They were forced down to the final two outs of the ninth inning, trailing 2-0 and facing the great Devin Williams. It's perfect for them and better for the story.
It had to be Pete too.
“I'm really happy to have scored,” Alonso said. “It's been a great ride all year and I'm very happy to be able to play for the team there. It's a really special moment.”
Mendoza said he had the best in mind when he realized Alonso was in fourth place in the ninth inning. He thought Alonso could turn things around for him and the team.
“I thought, 'Okay, this is the story,'” Mendoza said.
Their biggest free agent, a great guy, has looked like a shell of himself lately. He was a completely different guy, an overall nifty defender and an oddly good right hitter. As Joel Sherman pointed out, he hadn't hit a big home run since the first week of the season. His five biggest hits, which increased his chances of winning, all came in the first half.
No more. That wasn't the case when he timed Williams' three-and-one pitch into right field and watched it go over the wall. Not much, but enough. Pete is literally a hero, but this team is as champions as it needs to be.
When all seems lost, they make a comeback.
Just when we are ready to give up on them, they pull us back.
That's the theme of this season. Even when they seem dead, they start making a comeback.
I heard a scout's voice. “Honestly, I thought the Mets were doomed. I was wrong.”
They may not be the best team in this derby, which is currently down to eight teams, but they may be the toughest. And their story is the most unlikely. They are converting doubters into believers.
Here they were against Tobias Myers and the best bullpen on this team in San Diego, pitching eight innings and doing little. Then the Brewers brought in their great closer on a 2-0 run, and the Mets quickly flipped the scenario.
The great Francisco Lindor, a great MVP candidate, walked to start one of the greatest rallies in Mets history. Lindor has put together a great campaign and his clutch genes are off the charts.
“[Lindor’s] He’s involved in everything, offensively and defensively,” David Peterson said. “That guy won't stop.”
The team won't quit.
After Mark Vientos struck out, Nimmo hit a hard single over second base, setting up Alonso, who ran the count to 3-and-1 before taking the swing of his life.
“That's what the great Petes do,” Lindor said.
Pete hasn't done anything memorable so far in this series, other than losing the Game 2 loss when he tripped over his own bat and lost an RBI while hitting a double play. And in reality, he had done nothing of note for months, other than maintaining a perfect attendance record. But, no one around here would give you a gold star for something like that.
He needed to do something big, and when no one expected it, that's exactly what he did. The man who hit the most home runs since entering the league, unloaded, turned a near-certain loss into one of the biggest wins in Mets history.
Mets fans stayed behind the dugout to celebrate. They shouted “MVP” to Lindor. Then they shouted, “Pete a loon so.” They waved OMG signs. This was an OMG moment for a team that has had some really good teams in the past.
