Pete Alonso blasts walk-off homer to give short-handed NY Mets win over Cardinals

NEW YORK – Pete Alonso had no intention of missing the Mets' flight out to Denver.

The Cardinals may have put their travel plans on hold by sending the game to the 10th. But that's all the visitors would get.

Alonso sent Citi Field into a frenzy with a walk-off, two-run home run to start the inning, giving the Mets a 7-6 win over St. Louis on Thursday afternoon.

With a moonshot into the second deck in left, Alonso passed Giancarlo Stanton for the league lead with 36 RBI.

"I think Pete said we have a long flight so we got to get out of here," starter Chris Bassitt said. "Pete saved us."

Bassitt held the Cardinals to four runs on 6.1 innings for the Mets, who took three out of four in the series. It's the 10th series victory for the Mets (26-14) who have lost one and split another.

Some of the excitement in Queens was subdued by the news that came midway through the game. MRI results showed that ace Max Scherzer will miss six-to-eight weeks with a "moderate to high grade" strain in his left oblique.

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And even as the hits keep coming for the Mets' rotation, so do the wins. Beating the Cards on getaway day put the team 12 games over .500 for the first time all year and the first since Oct. 2, 2016.

"This group is extremely special," Alonso said. "We're a gritty bunch and we're super resilient. We just want to come out and put our best foot forward and win every single day, no matter who's in the lineup or who we're facing."

Bassitt was in line for the victory until the ninth inning when the Cardinals forced extras with a run off Edwin Diaz.

The Mets closer was one out from the save, but third baseman Eduardo Escobar could not corral a grounder from Paul Goldschmidt.

While the play was ruled a hit, it compounded a rough defensive series from Escobar who committed a throwing error for the second straight day.

Recent call-up Colin Holderman earned his first major league win, despite allowing the ghost runner to score in the top of the 10th.

"For us to beat an extremely high-quality team like that – at their place and our place –that gives us a lot of confidence going forward," Alonso said. "That's a playoff-type baseball team over there."

Now the Mets will pack their bags for upcoming stops in Colorado (three games) and San Francisco (three games).

Yet, they'll have to do it without the eight-time, All-Star who pulled himself from the game on Wednesday night.

"This is why the front office and Billy (Eppler) and those guys brought me and brought Max in," Bassitt said. "When things happen -- because things happen to everybody -- we're able to still win games."

Pushing the envelope

The Mets put pressure on Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson with aggressive baserunning from the very start.

Alonso got the Mets on the board with an RBI single, then followed Francisco Lindor on a double steal moments later.

Despite having the Cardinals infield drawn in, Lindor came around to score one pitch later, beating the throw from short on a Jeff McNeil grounder. It was part of a huge day for McNeil, who contributed with the glove and with the bat.

McNeil drove in another two runs in the fifth with a go-ahead, bases-loaded single.

In the outfield, McNeil also turned an unconventional double play to end the seventh inning. McNeil scaled the wall in left for a catch in foul territory and threw out Brendan Donovan who tried to tag up to second.

"He's the flying squirrel for a reason," Alonso said. "He's doing an unbelievable job for us offensively and defensively."

Help on the way

Outfielder Starling Marte is expected to re-join the Mets on Friday night against the Rockies. Marte missed the series against St. Louis while on the bereavement list.

Sean Farrell is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app. 

Email: farrells@northjersey.com 

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Pete Alonso walk-off home run leads NY Mets past Cardinals