QUEENS, NY — Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning walked the Mets off to a 4-3 series-opening victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night at Citi Field for New York’s second straight win.
“You give Pete Alonso a chance, and you feel pretty good about your chances,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Against Pirates closer David Bednar, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto led the decisive frame off with singles to put runners at the corners for the Polar Bear, who lofted a fly ball to right deep enough to score the star shortstop from third.
“Just looking for a good pitch to hit. That aspect doesn’t necessarily change there,” Alonso said of his game-winner, which was the eighth walk-off RBI of his career. “Whether it’s a fly ball, a hit, or even a passed ball. For me, I just want to execute my gameplan and not necessarily get too bit. The fly ball was what we needed.”
Trailing by a run in the top of the ninth, the Pirates tied the game thanks to spotty Mets fielding behind reliever Huascar Brazoban, who was tasked with closing with Edwin Diaz unavailable.
Lindor could not wrangle what would have been a double play to eliminate a lead-off Alex Canario single. Luisangel Acuna then could not handle a chopper cleanly, which allowed the tying run to score.
The Mets (27-15) scratched a pair of runs across in the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead. Soto’s RBI groundout to first drew the hosts level, scoring Tyrone Taylor, who pinch-hit for Brett Baty, was hit by a pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on Acuna’s infield single.
Acuna’s speed put the Mets ahead when he scored from second base on Alonso’s grounder that slipped under the glove of Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and skittered into shallow left field.
“I broke for third and saw the ball there,” Acuna began. “Then I saw [third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh] and he was waving me home in that situation… I’m always trying to impact the game — in my defense, in my base-running, in any situation.”
Leading off the top of the eighth inning, Joey Bart jumped on a hanging 1-1 slider from Mets reliever Dedniel Nunez and sent it 372 feet to left. It would have just scraped over the wall had it not been for a leaping Brandon Nimmo, who pulled it back to safety to temporarily preserve New York’s slim lead.
“As soon as he hit it, I thought it was out,” Mendoza said. “Nimmo went up there, he didn’t give up, and he made a hell of a play.”
The result ensured that neither Mets starter David Peterson nor Pirates star Paul Skenes factored in the decision after the two only gave up one run in their respective outings.
Skenes went six innings, allowed six hits, and struck out six while walking three. Peterson struck out seven and walked three while allowing five hits.
“It’s always fun when you go up against someone’s best and you get the pitching duels,” Peterson said. “It’s fun when you’re just trading blows and the offense is grinding. Our guys were taking good at-bats and doing everything they could. In games like that, it’s kind of a matter of us as the pitching staff of holding it together where it is and giving the offense the opportunity to finally break through.”
His lone blemish came in the second inning on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s lead-off solo home run, which continued his storybook-worthy day when it began by meeting the son of his late distant cousin, Hall of Famer and Mets broadcasting legend Ralph Kiner, for the first time.
The Pittsburgh infielder was reinstated from the injured list just hours earlier after dealing with a hamstring issue.
After stranding the lead-off man on base in each of the first two innings against Skenes, the Mets got one around in the fourth. Nimmo led the frame off with a double and came into score on Jeff McNeil’s one-out two-bagger to right to tie it off the Pirates’ ace.
The Mets continued to get traffic on the bases, but Skenes continued to show why he has one of baseball’s best arms. After Lindor singled with one out in the fifth, the righty struck out Soto and Alonso in succession.
After Mark Vientos doubled and McNeil walked with one out, Skenes induced an inning-ending double play from Francisco Alvarez in the sixth, his last pitch of the night.
Peterson’s night came to an end when he gave up a 10-pitch walk to Jared Triolo to lead off the seventh.
Triolo stole second and then was awarded third on a balk when reliever Jose Butto unsuccessfully attempted to pick him off three times during Ke’Bryan Hayes’ at-bat. He came in to score on Bryan Reynolds’ fielder’s choice, in which he beat out a double play, to put Pittsburgh up 2-1.
