Pete Alonso is on a solid power streak at a time in which the New York Mets definitely need as much bang as they can find.
The four-time All-Star has four homers in the past nine games. He will look to supply more muscle on Saturday night when the Mets face the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim, Calif.
Alonso hammered a two-run homer on Friday to help the Mets notch a 5-1 victory over the Angels in the opener of a three-game series.
The long ball provided a huge boost for the Mets as they began a pivotal four-city, 10-game road trip.
“I’m just really happy I was able to put a big swing in there,” Alonso said afterward. “Really good start for us to start this long road trip off with a win. Big step in the right direction for us.”
Alonso’s homer was his 23rd of the season, a measly tally compared to his 46 blasts last season and 40 in 2022.
His lowest output over a full-length season is 37, which means he’ll need a strong finish to approach that amount.
In Alonso’s view, his first-pitch homer off Tyler Anderson was huge on Friday because of what it meant for the club.
“We’re in August now and we’re coming down the home stretch,” Alonso said, “and we want to be able to play our best baseball toward the end of the year.”
New York also matched its season best of seven games over .500 and is in a fight for a wild-card spot in the National League.
The Angels have lost six of their past eight games and are 16 games below the break-even mark.
Los Angeles manager Ron Washington was not pleased with the play of the club in the opener. The Angels had just six hits, allowed 13 to the Mets and made two fielding errors.
“It looked bad because we didn’t make some plays on the defensive end,” Washington said. “Again, we just didn’t supply any offense.”
Washington said he didn’t yet know the status of infielder Luis Rengifo for Saturday. Rengifo aggravated his ailing right wrist and left after four innings. He struck out in both of his at-bats.
“All we know is we had to remove him because of the little flare-up,” Washington said. “We’ll just see what the trainers have to say going into (Saturday’s game).”
Rengifo was batting .315 before injuring the wrist on July 3. He returned to action 20 days later and has since gone 6-for-32 (.188) in nine games with his average falling 15 points. He sat out Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rockies due to wrist soreness.
The Angels will send right-hander Jose Soriano (6-7, 3.69 ERA) to the mound for the middle game of the series.
Soriano, 25, lasted just 2 2/3 innings in a no-decision on Sunday when he gave up six runs (three earned) and five hits against the Oakland Athletics in a game the Angels pulled out with an 8-6 win.
Soriano won his previous two decisions, both against the Seattle Mariners, allowing two runs and eight hits over 13 2/3 innings.
His lone career appearance against the Mets was a two-inning scoreless relief stint on Aug. 26, 2023.
New York will counter with left-hander David Peterson (5-1, 3.52) on Saturday.
Peterson took his first loss of the season — in his 10th start — on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. He gave up four runs and four hits over five innings in the 9-2 game.
Peterson had won his two previous turns, giving up two runs and 10 hits over 11 innings in victories against the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins.
The 28-year-old is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Angels. Kevin Pillar is 3-for-7 with two doubles off Peterson.
–Field Level Media