NEW YORK -- Mets first baseman Pete Alonso reached a career milestone by hitting his 250th home run in Saturday afternoon's 12-6 win over the Giants at Citi Field. He became the second player in franchise history to hit that many home runs, along with Darryl Strawberry.
Alonso reached the special milestone in the first inning against Giants right-hander Kai-Wei Teng. With runners on first and second, Alonso swung at a 1-2 pitch and hit the ball over the left-center-field wall to give New York a 3-0 lead.
“It felt really special,” said Alonso, now just two shy of Strawberry's franchise mark of 252 homers. “I was happy to help the team right there, especially in the first inning. I thought it set the tone well. Nimms [Brandon Nimmo], Paco [Francisco Lindor] did a great job of getting on base.”
Former teammate and current Giants first baseman Dominic Smith had no idea that Alonso reached a milestone. Back in 2019, people were wondering who was going to play first base for the Mets between Alonso and Smith. Alonso ended up winning the job, while Smith saw time as a backup first baseman, outfielder and pinch-hitter.
"One of the best power hitters this generation has seen,” Smith said. “I’ve seen him as a young kid come up and break the rookie home-run record. Obviously no record is really out of reach for him, especially the way he can swing it, the way he really knows his mechanics well and uses his body and his size.”
Nimmo said that Alonso has plenty more milestones ahead of him. But don’t expect Alonso to think about them. For him, winning baseball games is his top priority.
“For me, I want to capitalize on opportunities when presented and help the team win. That’s really all I am concerned about,” Alonso said. “The record is something that is really special and it’s meaningful, but right now -- in the heat of it -- I’m not too focused on it or worried about it.
“I’m focused on wins and what I can do to help this team win each game. We are in the thick of a playoff race right now, and I’ll think of all other stuff in the offseason or whenever I have time to. Right now, this is all team focused.”
Alonso wasn’t the only one contributing to the victory against San Francisco. Along with Alonso, the top of the batting order -- Nimmo and Lindor -- drove in 10 of the 12 runs. Lindor even had an RBI bunt hit against left-hander Matt Gage in the fourth inning.
“It’s amazing to see Francisco do what he did today. Pete, as well,” Nimmo said. “Swinging the bat makes this lineup tough to get through.”
Said Lindor: “Everyone is just passing the baton and everyone is contributing and being aggressive. We’re relying on each other to understand what’s happening. It was a good day for the offense. We learn from it and come back tomorrow and try to do it again.”