Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

We’re in the meaty part of the Major League Baseball schedule where every single game counts for those teams in a pennant race, including the New York Mets. However, it appears as though the core of this team has hit a wall at exactly the wrong time with the Atlanta Braves now reclaiming the National League East lead. That includes Pete Alonso, who has been in a slump but did show some signs of breaking out of that on Friday.

The Mets entered September knowing they had the easiest schedule remaining down the stretch, with a chance to fatten up their record against the bottom-feeders of MLB and blow the Braves out of the water. Instead, they have gone 3-4 in seven games against the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Miami Marlins, scoring a combined total of seven runs in those four losses.

After dropping an ugly 6-3 loss to the Marlins on Friday night that allowed the Braves to claim first place, Francisco Lindor spoke about players hitting a collective wall. You can include Alonso in that category as the slugger has started the month of September hitting just .200/.294/.433 with a .727 OPS. He entered Friday night with just one home run and one RBI. Furthermore, over the past 28 days, Alonso was slashing .210/.269/.360/.629 with four home runs and 12 RBI.

It is fair to state that Alonso was in a true rut at the plate and it was no surprise that the Mets struggled without his explosive bat. After carving out an impressive year, the two-time All-Star had gone quiet at the worst possible time, and the sudden absence of power has hurt a Mets lineup that has struggled to generate runs against even some of the worst teams in baseball.

Thankfully, the Mets got a glimpse that maybe Alonso is ready to break out of his slump and put this team on his back the rest of the way. After striking out and flying out in his first two at-bats and with the Marlins holding a 4-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, Alonso walked up to the plate and did what he has so many times this year for this team. He delivered.

He absolutely crushed a slider from Edward Cabrera, blasting a 406 ft. moonshot that traveled 115.6 mph into left field to score Brandon Nimmo and get the Mets back to within one of the Marlins. It was a trademark Alonso home run and it was a huge, huge hit in the overall context of the game. Sadly, the rest of the offense was unable to pick up the rest of the slack and generate another big hit that could have flipped the game.

However, for Alonso, his sixth inning show of absolute power will hopefully be the spark that wakes him up at the plate. After all, he loves hitting in Miami with his two-run homer on Friday the 11th long ball he’s smacked in 26 career games at loanDepot Park. That was also the power hitter’s 33rd home run and 108 RBI of the year. If Alonso can now put this team on his back for the remainder of this series in Miami and beyond, then maybe the Mets can right their recent wrongs and take back the division lead from the Braves. He will need help from the rest of this slumping offense, however.