The big storyline heading into the series with the Padres was Chris Paddack‘s remarks about Pete Alonso. In Round One of what may prove to be a rivalry going forward, Paddack got the better of Alonso striking him out twice and getting him to pop out. After the game, Alonso was clearly bitter about the events.

At the time, Alonso had not been playing well at all. Over the 13 game stretch, Alonso was hitting just .184/.241/.347, and he was striking out 35.2 percent of the time. While Paddack had beaten Alonso while he was down, he also woke the sleeping Polar Bear. The Polar Bear was angry, and he was going to make someone pay.

Right off the bat, Alonso showed this was going to be different. In the first inning, he hit an RBI single off Padres starter Cal Quantrill. With the Mets trailing 5-2 in the top of the seventh, Alonso delivered again with another RBI single. Those two RBI were alone to show Alonso was rebounded nicely, but it was not quite revenge. That would come in the top of the ninth:

With the score tied 5-5 and with the Mets in the midst of a four straight and nine of their past 12, Alonso delivered an epic home run which hit the Metal Supply Co. building. The two run blast was the margin of error the Mets needed in their 7-6 victory.

While Alonso has had his issues this season, he has delivered in these moments. In the ninth inning, he is 7-for-13 with four homers. That means a little more than one in every three homers Alonso hits is in the ninth inning. The ability to hit homers this late in the game and to deliver in those types of situations is exactly how legends are made, and that is why this is the Neon Moment of the Week!

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