Players of the Week: Alonso and Quintana Shine in Tough Week

The Mets didn’t have their best showing this week after a two-week stretch that included a lot of good baseball and a six-game winning streak. Although they were able to salvage it in some manner with a walk-off win on Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals, avoiding the three-game series sweep, they finished the week with a 2-4 record while maintaining third place in the National League East, where they now sit one game above .500 at 14-13 with both the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies above them in the standings.

Offensive Player of the Week: Pete Alonso

Alonso blasted his 200th career home run on Saturday off St. Louis Cardinals’ starting pitcher Sonny Gray, becoming the fourth-fastest player to reach the milestone in Major League history. The Polar Bear achieved this mark in just 710 career games, trailing only Ralph Kiner (706), Aaron Judge (671) and Ryan Howard (658). Alonso’s eight home runs on the ’24 season are good enough to be tied for 5th in MLB with Texas Rangers power-hitter Adolis García.

In addition to his milestone home run, Alonso hit his 199th long ball earlier in the week against the San Francisco Giants in a 5-2 loss. He finished the week 6-for-22 (.272), including those two home runs, three runs batted in and three walks, with an intentional walk in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday, when the Cardinals took their chance with DJ Stewart before he proceeded to ground into an inning-ending double play, sending the game to the 11th.

This is Alonso’s second week getting the nod as MMO’s Player of the Week this season, and we’re certain he will see this honor again soon as the team’s top hitter.

Pitcher of the Week: Jose Quintana

Quintana, without a doubt, had his best start of the season Sunday when he completed eight innings of one-run ball, the deepest a Mets starting pitcher went into a game this season. Pitching to contact and great control kept his pitch count low through the stretch of the game. In 99 pitches, 68 were thrown for strikes (68.6%). He stuck with his bread and butter by keeping the ball on the ground, recording 11 groundouts against the Cardinals lineup.

Manager Carlos Mendoza visited Quintana on the mound with two outs in the 8th inning while he was at 95 pitches and no runners on base. Mendoza attributed Quintana’s conviction and command of the game to sticking with him instead of handing the ball to Adam Ottavino for the final out of the eighth inning.

Of course, we can’t forget about Quintana’s start last Monday against the Giants, where he allowed five earned runs on seven hits in five innings pitched. The Mets needed a stopper Sunday, and he did just that. He held St. Louis in check to one earned run, three hits and three strikeouts – giving up just one free pass. He picked up the no-decision, leaving a tie game at one run each. The pitching staff needed a boost like this after tailing off from their collective start to the year. Normally, this type of gem would save the bullpen, but this game went into extras before the strong finish.

Honorable Mention: Mark Vientos

The Mets recalled Vientos on Saturday to accommodate Starling Marte moving to the bereavement list. And just like a movie, Vientos played the hero on Sunday by knocking a two-run walk-off home run with two outs and two strikes in the count in the bottom of the 11th inning. In two games this season, Vientos is 3-for-4 at the plate. Carlos Mendoza hinted that Vientos would be in the starting lineup Monday at his post-game conference, giving him a chance to prove he belongs with the big league club.

Up Next

The Chicago Cubs come to town Monday to begin a four-game series at Citi Field. Chicago has played some really good baseball except for their harsh 17-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. After consecutive series losses for the Mets, they’ll host another challenging opponent before traveling to Tampa Bay to face the Rays over the weekend. Hopefully, for the Mets, Sunday’s walk-off victory will give them some needed momentum entering the week.