NEW YORK (AP) Pete Alonso homered twice to become the second player in Mets history with four 30-homer seasons, leading retooling New York to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
The Mets won their second straight a little less than 24 hours after sending closer David Robertson to Miami for two rookie-ball prospects - signifying a trade deadline selloff. New York opened the season with a record $343 million payroll, but entered Friday seven games out of a wild-card spot.
āDisappointed - I mean, obviously, we put ourselves in this position, we havenāt played well enough as a team,ā said Max Scherzer, who allowed six hits and struck out seven in seven solid innings but has an ERA of 4.01, which would be his highest since 2011. āIāve had a hand in that for why weāre in the position that weāre at. Canāt get mad at anybody but yourself, but it stinks.ā
Scherzer, who has a player option worth $43.3 million for next season, said he expected to have discussions with owner Mets owner Steve Cohen and the teamās front office before Tuesdayās trade deadline.
āYou have to talk to the brass - you have to understand what they see, what theyāre going to do,ā Scherzer said. āThatās the best I can tell you. I told you I wasnāt going to comment on this until Steve was going to sell. We traded Robertson, now we need to have a conversation.ā
Alonso hit a 453-foot, two-out, three-run homer into the second deck in left field in the fifth inning off MacKenzie Gore (6-8), who opened the frame by walking the bottom two hitters in the Metsā order, Brett Baty and Francisco Ćlvarez.
Alonso added a two-run, 423-foot homer to center in the seventh off Rico Garcia.
The second homer was the 30th of the season for Alonso, who joined Mike Piazza (1999-2002) as the only players with four 30-homer seasons for the Mets.
āI didnāt know that until earlier - thatās really cool, thatās really special,ā Alonso said. āAwesome, but I just want to help the team win.ā
The only season in which Alonso has not reached 30 homers was during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, when he hit 16 homers in 57 games.
The two-homer game was the second in the last four games for Alonso, who had just four homers in 30 games from June 7 through July 23 - a span that included a stint on the injured list with a bruised left wrist.
Alonso also made an impressive play to end the eighth, when he dove between first and second base to field a grounder by Keibert Ruiz and threw from a sitting position to Adam Ottavino covering first.
āWhen you get it going again, somebodyās going to pay - you always feel that with Pete,ā Mets manager Buck Showalter said. āāOK, if Iām struggling, youāre going to feel my pains somewhere along the way.āā
Scherzer (9-4) carried a shutout into the seventh, when Luis GarcĆa hit a leadoff homer. GarcĆa finished with three hits - including two off Scherzer, against whom he is hitting .545 (6-for-11).
Ottavino pitched the eighth, and Brooks Raley worked the ninth.
Gore gave up three runs in five innings. He tied a season-high by walking four batters for the first time since May 23.
āWhen heās throwing strikes and heās getting ahead, heās really good,ā Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. āTonight, he was really good until he walked those two guys.ā
CLOSER BY COMMITTEE?
Showalter said he wasnāt sure who would replace Robertson as the Metsā primary closer. Right-handers Ottavino (six saves) and Drew Smith (two saves) and left-hander Raley (two saves) have combined for the 10 saves that werenāt earned by Robertson.
āAll options are on the table,ā Showalter said. āNever overlook an orchard while searching for a rose. You might be surprised who might emerge.ā
TRAINERāS ROOM
Nationals: 3B Jeimer Candelario, who was the DH Friday, said he was fine after he wrapped his left arm around second base umpire Vic Carapazza while unsuccessfully trying to leg out a double in the eighth inning. Candelario walked off with a trainer while grimacing and holding his left arm but said he was more frustrated by being thrown out.
Mets: To replace Robertson on the active roster, the Mets recalled RHP Reed Garrett from Triple-A Syracuse.
UP NEXT
LHP Patrick Corbin (6-11, 5.01 ERA) will start for the Nationals against RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-4, 5.82 ERA) in the third game of the four-game series Saturday night.
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