The New York Mets (47-53) have been waiting for their offense, and Pete Alonso in particular, to break out. If Tuesday’s game against the New York Yankees (53-48) is any indication, then the second half could be a lot different than the first. Alonso hit two home runs and drove in five in the team’s 9-3 win.

The hits came in many different ways for the Mets’ first baseman. It began in the opening inning when Alonso was able to bloop a single in between three Yankees fielders to drive in Brandon Nimmo for the game’s first run against Domingo Germán.

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Then, in the top of the third, Alonso went back to the power portion of his game. After a double by Francisco Lindor and a walk by Jeff McNeil, Alonso found himself down 0-2 in the count, but he was able to battle back and hit a changeup down the left field line for a three-run home run.

“I saw it in Boston a little bit. Body language and facial expression starting to feel a little bit,” Buck Showalter said after the game. “Doesn’t surprise me and he never is going to assume anything is behind him. That’s why he is such a good player. He never takes anything for granted.”

The home runs did not stop there. In the sixth, Alonso crushed a fastball into Monument Park for his second home run of the game and his 28th of the year. Two pitches later, Daniel Vogelbach crushed a solo home run of his own into right-center and the Mets ended up leading 6-0.

That would be plenty of runs for Justin Verlander, who was able to pitch well against the Yankees for the second time this season. Despite walking DJ LeMahieu three times, the 40-year-old right-hander did not face many stress moments either. He threw six scoreless innings, allowed no runs on two hits (both singles), walked four, and struck out six on 98 pitches (63 strikes).

“He shut out the Yankees in Yankee Stadium for 6 innings–that’s really hard to do. I thought his stuff was pretty good,” said Showalter.

As for Germán, the Yankees pitcher who had a perfect game earlier in the year, he ended up taking the loss. The right-hander went six innings, allowed six runs on seven hits, walked a batter, and struck out nine on 91 pitches (63 strikes).

In the seventh, the Mets would add another run thanks to an error by Anthony Volpe. Lindor hit a ball up the middle that was fielded by Volpe, but the throw to first went into the dugout and allowed the shortstop to advance to second. That error would lead to a run on a McNeil single.

The Yankees would have their fair share of chances against the bullpen, but for every Yankee rally, the Mets were able to prevent it from being a huge inning. In the seventh, a Volpe RBI double got the Yankees on the board against Brooks Raley. The Yankees loaded the bases, but Dominic Leone came in and got Giancarlo Stanton to hit a sacrifice fly and struck out Anthony Rizzo swinging to end the threat.

One inning later, Showalter had to call on David Robertson to get out of a bases-loaded jam with one out. The Yankees did get a run on an RBI groundout by pinch-hitter Ben Rortvedt, but he got Jake Bauers to groundout to first to end the inning.

McNeil would help the Mets tack on two more runs in the ninth with a double down the right-field line. However, in that same inning, fans would have to hold their breath as Francisco Alvarez was hit by a fastball from Albert Abreu in the hand (second hit-by-pitch of the inning) and ended up leaving the game. Showalter said there is “some concern” about the young catcher, however, Álvarez said his X-rays came back negative. The Mets will see how his hand feels in the coming days.

Player Of The Game

The player of the game could not be anybody else but Alonso, who ended up rising to the biggest stage in Tuesday’s win. The five RBIs are the most that the first baseman has driven in one game this year. It is also his second multi-home run game of the year with the first coming back on April 5 against the Brewers. Finally, it was his second three-hit game of the year (April 17 against the Phillies).

Stat Of The Game

With Alonso’s two home runs, he made a small amount of Subway Series history as he now has 8 career home runs against the Yankees in his career. As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweeted, he tied Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza for the second-most home runs by a Met in Subway Series history.

On Deck

The Mets will look to win the 2023 Subway Series on Wednesday night when they finish the two-game mini series against the Yankees in the Bronx. You can watch the game on SNY at 7:05 p.m.

Lefty José Quintana (0-1, 3.60) will take the ball for the Mets in his second start of the year against another southpaw in Carlos Rodón (0-3, 7.36) for the Yankees.