Another big moment in an opening week of them was all set up for big Pete Alonso.
The Mets trailed by two runs in the eighth Thursday at Citi Field when Brandon Nimmo worked a one-out walk against Nationals right-handed reliever Justin Miller.
The second-largest regular-season crowd in Citi Field history finally had something to watch instead of the debris blowing over the field on this windy home opener of a day.
The rookie Alonso, off to an incredible start, worked the count to 2-2.
Even though Alonso later said his dreams came true on this day, just being in the starting lineup and having the Mets’ fans immediately in his corner, all dreams don’t have perfect endings.
This is baseball, after all, and sometimes the other guy wins.
Miller, who has an extremely closed delivery, fired a 94 mph fastball down the middle of the plate past the swinging Alonso. It was Alonso’s second strikeout of the day, one in which he could not get the ball out of the infield.
The Nationals added two more runs in the ninth and the Mets wound up 4-0 losers in their home opener. They struck out 14 times and wasted a strong six-inning performance by Noah Syndergaard.
This is going to be some division battle.
It was Stephen Strasburg who got the upper hand in Alonso’s first three at-bats. In Washington, in Game 2 of the season, Alonso won the battle against Strasburg with a booming double that one-hopped the center-field wall for his first major league RBI in the Mets’ 11-8 win Saturday. It was the first of two RBI doubles for Alonso that day.
That double off Strasburg came on a curveball. This time around Strasburg was much more exacting with his pitches, but this is all part of the growth process for Alonso.
The Mets lost. Alonso didn’t get a hit, but he is still pumped.
“I feel like I’m in a dream,’’ he said after the game. “I thought [Strasburg] executed really well. He didn’t leave many pitches over the plate and was hitting the corners really well.’’
This is not the Strasburg of old. He has to hit his spots to be successful and he did that Thursday.
“I was excited out there, but Strasburg was really sharp,’’ Alonso said. “I feel that if I stay the course I will have a really good game on Saturday.’’
That’s really the test for Alonso. It’s about bouncing back after a rough day at the plate. With the 0-for-4 he still will carry a .346 average into Saturday’s game against the Nationals.
It wasn’t too long ago Michael Conforto was a rookie Met playing his first game at Citi Field in 2015 and he offered encouraging words to Alonso.
“He’s a very, very polished hitter beyond his years,’’ Conforto said. “Not the best today but we all have those days and for him to get this one out of the way, he’ll be able to settle in a little bit more on Saturday. I took an 0-for-4 my first game here, so. Then I came back and went 4-for-4 the next day. He’s going to be just fine and he’s already shown he can do a lot of things, so we are really excited about him.’’
Hitters have incredible memories. Conforto was actually 0-for-3 in his first Mets game at Citi Field on July 24, 2015, a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. The next night he was 4-for-4 with two doubles and a walk in a 15-2 win over LA. We all know how that pennant-winning season turned out.
Alonso will use his first Mets home opener as a learning tool.
“This is really special for me and I want to just keep playing well,’’ said Alonso, who has brought rookie energy and strength to the Mets in a similar way Aaron Judge brought it to the Yankees.
He is a player the entire team can feed off of because of what he brings to the party.
“It’s special playing here, seeing all the seats filled it was wonderful, I can’t wait to play a whole season here,’’ Alonso said with passion. “It’s awesome playing here.’’
Even on a rough day at the plate.
