The Mets finally exhaled on Tuesday night. They broke a seven-game losing streak with a 13-5 win over the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. It was also an occasion of celebration as Met first baseman Pete Alonso broke Darryl Strawberry's franchise home run record, hitting the 253rd of his career off of the Braves' Spencer Strider in the third inning. He knocked No. 254 over the outfield wall for No. 254 in the sixth.
The man nicknamed Polar Bear has spent his entire seven-year Major League Baseball career with the Mets after being drafted by them in 2016 in the second round (64th overall) out of the University of Florida. Heading into last night's (Wednesday) home game against the Braves, in 119 games played this season, the most of any player on the team, Alonso had the highest batting average (.267) of all Mets players with at least 41 appearances, was leading the team in RBIs (96) and was tied with right fielder Juan Soto with 28 home runs.
While Alonso has been a force in the lineup, Soto, who the Mets signed in December to a 15-year, $765 million contract, the largest in sports history, has underperformed in the view of a majority of Mets fans. They were expecting numbers comparable to what his former Yankees teammate Aaron Judge has posted this season. Soto had just 66 RBI and a .251 average in 117 games played before last night's match up. Conversely, Judge, in 117 games prior to the Yankees taking on the Minnesota Twins in the Bronx last night, was batting .337, tops in the majors, had 38 home runs (4th) 88 RBIs (6th) and a Major League high 1.141 OPS. Judge is AL MVP frontrunner after winning the award in 2022 and last season.
All three stars have been part of disappointing collective team outcomes. As the dog days of summer have descended upon the baseball season, the Mets and Yankees have been in perilous battles for postseason spots with a little under seven weeks remaining in the regular season. Both teams have tailspinned beginning in July and accelerating in August. On July 28, the Mets, under manager Carlos Mendoza, were 62-45 and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. They were tied with four other teams for the second most wins in the majors.
Since then, they had lost 11 of 13 prior to last night and were 64-55, second in the NL five games behind the Phillies, and only two games in front of the Cincinnati Reds for the third and last NL wildcard berth. The Yankees, under the guidance of manager Aaron Boone, were in a more fragile state. Following their peak of being 17 games over .500 (42-25) on June 12, they are now sitting in third place in the AL East, trailing the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays, which were 70-50 ahead of yesterday's MLB schedule, and the 66-55 Boston Red Sox. The Yankees were 64-56 and one game better than the Cleveland Guardians for the last AL wildcard spot.
The Yankees have a three-game road set against the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow through Sunday. The Mets host the Seattle Mariners this weekend beginning tomorrow at Citi Field.