Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Pete Alonso is enjoying a season for the ages and he wrote another compelling chapter on Saturday. With the Mets looking for another series win against the Marlins, Alonso once again emerged as the hero as he came up clutch on two occasions. This further cementing his status as a true MVP contender in the National League as a direct result.

The slugger went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs, two RBI, and two runs scored. This included hitting the go-ahead blast that led to yet another series win for the Mets.

What was most impressive about Alonso’s ability to come up clutch in the eighth inning, and indeed his entire season, was his preparation. Having been struck out by Jimmy Yacabonis in his first-ever at-bat against the pitcher on Friday, Alonso went to work to ensure there would be a different result on Saturday.

“That was my first at-bat ever off of him and I had a really difficult time picking up his release point, first time seeing him,” Alonso said. “It is one thing seeing something on video but once you step into the box it is just a totally different perspective and I tried to lock it in as best as I could, see where the ball was coming from in his release point. Thankfully, I saw the ball a lot better today and I was able to get a good swing on a good pitch.”

Alonso’s even-keeled approach paid off as he stayed patient in a five-pitch at-bat, eventually crushing a pitch with an exit velocity of 110.4 MPH that travelled 433 ft for the go-ahead home run. It was a rope that effectively won the game for the Mets.

Alonso’s hot night at the plate actually began in the second inning. With Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers dealing early, he then faced off against an unstoppable force in Alonso who connected on a four-seam fastball in just the second pitch of the at-bat. Alonso crushed his 21st home run of the year, 346 feet over the wall.

Interestingly enough, sandwiched in between his home runs was a shallow and unproductive fly out with the bases loaded. Alonso did not let this get to him. His manager described why this is best.

“He doesn’t let one at-bat ruin his whole game,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He was very frustrated with a bases loaded situation (on Friday) but he doesn’t dwell on past successes and failures. He keeps grinding with it. That’s a common denominator of guys that drive in runs and do things that Pete does.”

Overall, Saturday’s two-homer game was the 14th career multi-HR game for Alonso. He now leads the National League in home runs with 22. More impressively, though, he currently leads all of baseball with 68 RBI. Alonso talked about his confidence at the plate.

“I’m confident every day, I trust the work I do, I put in a lot of work in the cage and to trust my offensive plan,” Alonso said. “I put a lot of prep work into my defensive game as well, and I just want to be a complete player every single day and help this team win ballgames. I’m really happy with how we’ve been playing so far and really happy with how I’ve been contributing this year.”

“I just want to do whatever I can every single day so we can go to the postseason and have a chance at a championship.”

There is no doubt that Alonso is playing at the very peak of his powers right now. One could argue that, if it wasn’t for the looming shadow of Aaron Judge and what he’s doing over at Yankee Stadium, then Alonso would be getting the full share of accolades he deserves in New York. However, if he can keep on coming up big in the clutch as he did on Saturday, then even better things could be on the horizon for both Alonso and the New York Mets.