Before the National League Championship Series last October, manager Carlos Mendoza said navigating the Dodger lineup was a “pick your poison kind of thing.”
So, Mendoza could empathize with Marlins rookie manager Clayton McCullough in the sixth inning Tuesday when he had to decide what to do with Juan Soto coming up, runners on first and third, and Pete Alonso on deck. McCullough opted to walk Soto intentionally.
“I think it gets to a point like pick your poison there,” Mendoza said post-game, echoing his October comments. “You either go after Juan Soto or you got another good one behind him. And they decided to pitch to Pete and I’m glad he came through.”
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Alonso lined a three-run double to the left field gap to give the Mets a 9-5 lead. “I just wanted to get a pitch to hit, and thankfully, I got one where I was looking, and I was able to capitalize,” said Alonso, whose slash line improved to .333/.447/.692/1.139 after going 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and four RBIs.
New York went on to a 10-5 victory in front of 28,861 fans who braved 43-degree weather and sustained winds of 28 mph, with gusts of 42 mph. The Polar Bear thrived in the cold.
“I mean the biggest thing is just staying locked in,” Alonso said. “I mean the breeze, I mean every single pop-up was a tough one. And everybody on defense had to stay locked in. We did a great job. This was a huge team win.”
In the fifth inning, with first and third, Alonso drew a walk when it looked like Miami reliever Calvin Faucher was pitching around him to get to Brandon Nimmo, who followed with a two-run double. This wasn’t a “pick your poison” situation, given that Nimmo is hitting .214, but Mendoza thinks that could change.
“We feel really good about our chances whether it’s with Juan, whether it’s with Pete and whoever we got behind those guys,” Mendoza said. “I been saying it. As long as we creating traffic and making things happen, eventually we will get the big hit and we got it today. It’s not easy to game plan, especially when you have not only good hitters but it’s righty, lefty or switch hitter. It’s hard.”
The Mets (8-3) have won six in a row.
“I mean, we’ve just been playing great team baseball,” Alonso said. “We’ve been having great at-bats. I mean, good lord, our pitchers are throwing the ball really well. The defense is playing well. I mean this is really good team baseball. It’s really exciting.”
