An Amazin’ Subway Series Saturday for Alonso, Nimmo and Mets

Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

FLUSHING, NY — The bats were scorching hot for Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo Saturday afternoon in Queens. 

The orange and blue duo, slotted in the clean up spot and five hole, respectively, put on a hitting clinic in the Mets’ 12-6 lopsided victory over the Yankees at Citi Field—combining for nine runs driven in via a first inning grand slam off the lumber of Nimmo, and an Alonso two-run homer in the fifth, followed by a three-run blast two innings later during the bottom of the seventh. 

An Amazin’ Subway Series Saturday for the Mets all together, improving to 52-38, in front of a New York crowd of 41,401, who were feathered in Met and Yankee apparel.

“When we are controlling the strike zone as a team, we’re dangerous,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, as all three Mets home runs on Saturday came with runners on base. “These stretches where we will be quiet offensively, we don’t create much traffic, it’s because we’re going out of the strike zone and swinging at their pitches instead of forcing them (opposing pitchers) to come into our strength.”

Using his own ‘Polar Bear’ strength, Alonso, the 30-year-old right-handed slugging first baseman marked his 245th and 246th career HR to inch closer towards becoming the Mets’ all-time franchise leader in home runs, which Darryl Strawberry has held the title of since 1990 with 252 homers. 

Meanwhile for Alonso’s teammate Nimmo, the left-handed swinging outfielder and longest active tenured Met, opened up Saturday’s scoring onslaught, clobbering a Carlos Rodón 1-2, 87-MPH slider for a grand slam to take a commanding 4-0 first inning lead, one the Mets did not look back on—recording a series win over the Yankees and at the bare minimum a season series split with the regular season Subway Series finale set for Sunday afternoon. 

As with the Bronx Bombers, falling to 48-41 overall, the Yankees have now gone on to drop their sixth consecutive game where in that span, their AL East rival Blue Jays overtook them for the division lead. 

In a similar boat, the Mets, trailing their own division foe Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, allowing their lead to slip away last month, perhaps four consecutive wins, this Subway Series victory over the weekend and opportunity to complete a sweep on Sunday, has gotten the team ‘right’ and firing like they once showed in their capabilities and potential just five or so weeks ago. 

“I feel like both of these teams are right now kind of like heavyweights at the end of a 15-round match just trying to show some haymakers,” said Nimmo on the current state of both New York baseball teams and significance of each attempting to get on the board early. “Both teams are pretty beat up right now so I feel like it’s a big deal when you’re able to get that lead in the beginning.”

“But also, I knew when I hit that (the first inning grand slam), immediately I’m thinking, ‘well, it’s the first inning, we are going to have to keep putting runs up. It’s a long game, they are a great offense and we are gonna have to stay at it.’” 

A well thought out mindset from Nimmo, one the Mets will look to carry into Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 PM ET with a pitching matchup of LHP Max Fried (10-2, 2.13 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Devenski (0-0, 3.38 ERA).

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