{"id":1314768,"date":"2019-09-18T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/alonso-hits-49th-hr-helps-mets-rally-in-9th-to-beat-rockies\/"},"modified":"2019-09-18T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T03:00:00","slug":"alonso-hits-49th-hr-helps-mets-rally-in-9th-to-beat-rockies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/alonso-hits-49th-hr-helps-mets-rally-in-9th-to-beat-rockies\/","title":{"rendered":"Alonso hits 49th HR, helps Mets rally in 9th to beat Rockies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New York Mets’ Pete Alonso follows the flight of his solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman in the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

DENVER \u2014 Pete Alonso didn\u2019t need a big swing in the ninth inning \u2014 just a good eye.<\/p>\n

Alonso hit his major league-leading 49th homer, then drew a bases-loaded walk during a four-run rally in the ninth that sent the New York Mets over the Colorado Rockies 7-4 Wednesday.<\/p>\n

New York began the day four games behind the Cubs and Brewers for the second NL wild card. After winning two of three at Coors Field, the Mets have 10 games left this season starting with a three-game series in Cincinnati that opens Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would\u2019ve liked to have a sweep at this point, but taking a series is huge for us. We\u2019re going to grab as many games as we can and see where the dust settles,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cWe still have an outside shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alonso hit a long solo home run to left field in the sixth. He moved within three homers for the most by a rookie, a mark set by Aaron Judge with 52 for the New York Yankees in 2017.<\/p>\n

Jeff McNeil also went deep for the Mets, who set a franchise record with 225 home runs this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got some ball left so hopefully we can extend that a little bit,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n

Trailing 4-3 going into the ninth, the Mets tied it on Brandon Nimmo\u2019s third hit, an RBI single off Jairo Diaz (5-4). After a walk to McNeil loaded the bases, Joe Harvey relieved and walked Alonso on four pitches to put New York ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want to have to groove a fastball to him when they fall behind,\u201d New York manager Mickey Callaway said. \u201cHe puts the fear in guys and he should because he\u2019s a great hitter. That allows him to be a little more patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another run scored on a double-play grounder, and Seth Lugo (7-4) hit an RBI single in his first plate appearance of the season.<\/p>\n

Lugo said he was waiting for an at-bat all year but his enthusiasm waned a bit when Harvey\u2019s first pitch to Alonso was high and inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw him miss around Pete\u2019s face and with those shadows I wasn\u2019t too comfortable out there the first couple of pitches,\u201d Lugo said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to look dumb. I was staying short and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rookie Sam Hilliard hit two home runs for the last-place Rockies, connecting both times off Noah Syndergaard. Hilliard\u2019s first homer went an estimated 447 feet to right-center and his second drive gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead. Hilliard was recalled on Aug. 27 and homered in his debut that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pitch I could handle and those are the ones you\u2019re not supposed to miss. I was fortunate enough to get a good swing on it,\u201d Hilliard said of his first home run.<\/p>\n

Syndergaard went 5 2\/3 innings, giving up four runs on 10 hits and striking out six. Rene Rivera started at catcher \u2014 Syndergaard recently expressed his interest in pitching to someone other than regular starter Wilson Ramos.<\/p>\n

Ramos pinch-hit for Rivera and drew a leadoff walk in the ninth to begin the Mets\u2019 rally.<\/p>\n

McNeil hit his 22nd homer, tagging Jeff Hoffman in the first inning. Hoffman allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

TRAINER\u2019S ROOM<\/p>\n

Mets: RHP Robert Gsellman (right triceps tightness) will throw off a mound again, Callaway said. Gsellman was scheduled to play catch Wednesday.<\/p>\n

TOUGH ENDING<\/p>\n

Diaz moved into the closer\u2019s role after Wade Davis was ineffective and Scott Oberg went on the injured list, and he converted his previous four save opportunities before Wednesday\u2019s blown chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve been here before, so we know how to handle it,\u201d third baseman Nolan Arenado said. \u201cJario has been really good for us but this is one of those hiccups. They had really good at-bats towards the end. You just have to give them credit.\u201d<\/p>\n

UP NEXT<\/p>\n

Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (9-8, 2.61 ERA) pitches Friday night in Cincinnati. He is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA in five career starts against the Reds.<\/p>\n

Rockies: RHP Peter Lambert (3-6, 6.98) goes for his second consecutive win at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Lambert had gone without a victory in 15 straight starts before beating San Diego on Saturday.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Mets’ Pete Alonso follows the flight of his solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman in the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)AP | AP DENVER \u2014 Pete Alonso didn\u2019t need a big swing in the ninth inning \u2014 just a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 17:00:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}