Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Pete Alonso played his part to ensure that the Mets avoided another shutout on Friday night in Los Angeles.

After being shut out 2-0 by the Dodgers in the first game of a four-game series on Thursday, the mission statement was to avoid the same fate again given that the bats have been so reliable all year.

However, Tyler Anderson had filthy stuff on the mound and he was able to shut down an offense that had scored 168 runs in May, tied for the third most in any month in team history per Baseball Savant.

Anderson elicited 14 swings and misses and his lethal changeup proved almost impossible to solve, with the pitch having an impressive 63 percent whiff rate.

It was only when Anderson was out of the game that the Mets were able to do any damage, with Alonso once again stepping up for his team.

Arguably in the MVP conversation, the slugger stepped up to the plate in the top of the seventh and swung on the first pitch he saw from Yency Almonte, crushing an absolute bomb to left center field to get the Mets on the board and avoid being shutout for the second straight game having previously been the last team to have been shut out all year.

It was Alonso’s 14th homer of the year, tied for second in the National League, and the hit had an exit velocity of 111.6 MPH and travelled 433 feet – a typical Alonso moonshot.

Pete Alonso's first-pitch swinging to start to 7th inning for his 14th homer of the year! pic.twitter.com/9c9I63Pzys

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 4, 2022

Alonso went 1-for-4 on the night with one strikeout but he was also brilliant in the field, executing this superb play in the fourth to leap in the air like some kind of Marvel superhero and flash the leather to somehow glove a well-hit liner from Gavin Lux in the bottom of the fourth.

Pete Alonso flashes the leather with the splendid diving stop pic.twitter.com/xaWKqsTcdG

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 4, 2022

He absolutely robbed Lux and it was the kind of incredible hustle play that highlights the progression Alonso has made at first base.

It proved to be another night to forget in the City of Angels for the Mets, but Alonso was able to do what he’s done all year and his slash line now reads .277/.357/.525 with a .882 OPS to go along with 14 home runs and 48 RBI in 202 at-bats.

And, if the Mets are to salvage anything from their four-game series against the Dodgers, they will need Alonso to continue raking at the plate and hope that wakes up the rest of the offense.

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