The New York Mets entered this past week brimming with confidence, after a great series victory over the Washington Nationals that included two impressive comeback victories. New York hit the road and were faced with their toughest test since the All-Star break, facing the first-place Atlanta Braves. Zack Wheeler was roughed up in the first game of the series and the Mets dropped the contest 5-3. In the second game, New York had a late lead but Seth Lugo faltered for the first time in over a month and they ended up losing their third straight game.

In the series finale, the Mets bats came alive, racking up 10 runs on 23 hits and they were able to salvage a victory against their division rival. The Mets road trip then took them to Kansas City to face the Royals for the first time since 2016. New York hoped to sweep the series against the Royals, as this was the last series they had against a team under .500 for the next month.

Unfortunately, the Mets were unable to come away with all three games, but they return home taking two out of three and are just two games out of a Wild Card spot. Jacob deGrom continued to make a case to be included in the Cy Young conversation with another great start and Pete Alonso essentially wrapped up the Rookie of the Year Award after breaking the NL record for most home runs ever hit by a rookie.

Hitter of the Week – Pete Alonso

The Mets had four hitters eclipse ten hits this week, as Pete Alonso, Amed Rosario, Juan Lagares and Wilson Ramos all hit over .400. Yet one hitter stood out above all the rest and it was the guy that etched his name into the record books.

Pete Alonso started the week off slow, only recording one hit in the first two games of the Mets series against Atlanta. He then erupted in a big way in the series finale, going 5-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs in the Mets 10-8 victory over the Braves. Alonso tied the NL record for most home runs ever hit by a rookie that night, setting up the first of many records he is set to break over the last quarter of the season.

Then in the next series against the Royals, Alonso turned in two three-hit games and led the Mets with four RBIs. In the Mets victory on Saturday, Alonso’s two-run single in the seventh inning broke the tie and put the Mets ahead for good. Alonso finished off his week in the best way imaginable, officially breaking Cody Bellinger’s NL record for home runs hit by a rookie in the ninth inning of Sunday’s blowout victory over the Royals.

Alonso’s stats this past week: .480/.567/.800, 12 H, 5 R, 10 RBI, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 BB, 1.367 OPS

Pitcher of the Week – Jacob deGrom

Jacob deGrom’s early season struggles are far in the rear-view mirror, as he has been excellent ever since the calendar turned to May. If you remove deGrom’s four lackluster starts in April, he is pitching to a 2.07 ERA this year and has been every bit as dominant as he was in his Cy Young season.

In deGrom’s seven starts since the All-Star break, he has gotten even better, allowing just five runs across 45 innings pitched. That’s good for a 1.00 ERA and he has struck out 56 batters in that span as well. With the injury to Max Scherzer, deGrom has now overtaken him for the National League lead in strikeouts, as he is pacing the league with 194 punchouts.

In his start on Saturday, deGrom worked his way through the Royals lineup with ease early on. He retired the side in order in the first three innings, before finally running into some trouble in the fourth inning. deGrom issued a walk to Alex Gordon with one out and then gave up a basehit which put runners at first and third.

He may have been able to escape the inning unscathed, had Pete Alonso fielded a ground ball cleanly that had the potential to be an inning-ending double play. Unfortunately, Alonso booted the ball and the Royals scored the first run of the game. deGrom induced a double play to the next batter he faced and would not allow another run all game. When the Mets rallied to score two runs in the seventh, deGrom stayed on and pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning to win his eighth game of the season. His record is now finally above .500 at 8-7.

deGrom’s line this past week: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K