Players of the Week: Alonso and Verlander Prove Their Star Status

The Mets had an up-and-down week on the road against a pair of below .500 opponents as they lost a series at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds before winning two out of three against the Washington Nationals. New York ran into some all-too-familiar roadblocks on both sides of the ball during that stretch, but Pete Alonso and Justin Verlander both turned in exceptional performances to keep the team afloat.

Hitter of the Week

Following a rough series at the plate against the Colorado Rockies, Pete Alonso rediscovered his power stroke this week while also showing off his ability to get on base.

In the series opener on Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Alonso rocketed a solo shot to the opposite field that knocked Reds starter Luke Weaver out of the game and made it 7-3 in the seventh inning. He later added a walk in the eighth that kept a rally going, but the Mets ultimately came up short in their comeback effort.

Alonso did more of the same in Wednesday’s game as he blasted yet another solo homer off Hunter Greene in the second inning that gave him sole possession of the league lead in home runs at 13. That blast would end up making the difference in a 2-1 win for the Mets that broke a three-game losing streak. Alonso also went on to add two walks against Greene down the stretch.

Alonso recorded just two hits in 14 plate appearances against the Nationals over the weekend, but supplemented that with four walks as he continued to find ways to get on base for a struggling Mets offense.

In total, Alonso finished the week with a .211/.444/.526 slash line to go with two home runs and two RBI.

Pitcher of the Week

The Mets desperately needed a dominant performance from one of their starters amidst a brutal period for their rotation that also led to the bullpen being overworked.

Enter Justin Verlander, who in his second start with the team showed why he demanded the big contract he received from the Mets’ brain trust as he recovered from a somewhat rocky showing in his first outing against the Detroit Tigers with a wire-to-wire performance against the Reds on Wednesday that cemented his status among the game’s elite.

Verlander did run into first inning trouble, which is a rite of passage for Mets starters at this point, and gave up a one-run double to Jake Fraley that rewarded Cincinnati with the early 1-0 lead. That’s where the scoring stopped for the Reds, though, and Verlander went on to set down the next eight batters in order. Following a walk given up to Tyler Stephenson in the fourth inning, Verlander also retired the last 10 hitters that he faced.

All in all, Verlander got through seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts on 104 pitches as part of a gutsy performance that culminated in a Mets win.