ST. LOUIS — Pete Alonso desperately needed a hit. His batting slump was among the worst in baseball, with just one hit in his last 32 at-bats, dragging his batting average to a meager .201. His slugging percentage had dropped by over 100 points, and he was at risk of falling below the Mendoza Line—an unenviable place for any hitter, especially one batting cleanup in a contract year. It was clear that Alonso needed to break out of his slump, and he needed to do it quickly.
He finally did on Tuesday at Busch Stadium. In the fifth inning, Alonso ripped a tiebreaking, two-run double that hit the right-center-field wall on the bounce, giving the Mets a lead they would not relinquish in a 7-5 win over the Cardinals. As Alonso stood on second base, he pointed both index fingers toward the Mets’ dugout. His teammates cheered him on, acknowledging how much he needed that hit.
“It was really nice to be able to help in the manner that I did tonight,” Alonso said after the game.
The Mets had fallen behind early after starter José Buttó allowed three runs in the first inning. But in the fifth, they mounted a comeback, stringing together six consecutive hits. The third was a game-tying, three-run homer by Brandon Nimmo, who had recently broken out of his own slump. Then, with two men on base, Alonso had his chance to make an impact.
Alonso had struggled in the previous two weeks, accumulating a painful number of popouts, flyouts, groundouts, and strikeouts. He was struggling so much that manager Carlos Mendoza decided to give him a break, sitting him for part of Monday’s game, hoping to clear his head.
Whether it was the break or simply due timing, Alonso was ready to turn things around. He jumped on a Miles Mikolas sinker, driving it deep into the right-center-field gap, allowing both Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor to score.
“At some point, he [was] going to come out of it,” Mendoza said. “He’s too good of a hitter, too good of a player for this to keep going.”
Alonso wasn’t done. In the ninth inning, he smashed a solo homer off rookie Chris Roycroft, giving the Mets a bit more breathing room. It was Alonso’s ninth home run of the season and the 201st of his career, providing reliever Adam Ottavino with some insurance for the final inning.
“Great to see him have a really good game for us today,” Mendoza said.
Alonso’s slump was particularly challenging because, unlike Brandon Nimmo, he wasn’t hitting the ball hard even when he made contact. From April 28 to May 6, Alonso’s average exit velocity ranked 279th out of 283 qualified Major League hitters, at just 79 mph, far below his career average, which is almost 10 mph harder.
To get back on track, Alonso worked with hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, trying to find a new feel and aiming to hit to the center
