Pete Alonso's milestone home run helps lift Mets to 5-3 win over White Sox

Pete Alonso’s milestone home run helps lift Mets to 5-3 win over White Sox

The Mets (72-64) won the second game of their three-game series with the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night, 5-3.

Here are the takeaways…

–Pete Alonso’s two-run homer in the first inning got New York out of the gates quickly and gave the Mets an early 2-0 advantage. Alonso attacked the first pitch he saw from Chicago starter Davis Martin and sent it 404 feet to left center field for his 30th home run of the season. The first baseman joins Mike Piazza as the only Mets in franchise history to have four straight seasons of 30 or more home runs.

The blast was also Alonso’s 55th in 162 career interleague games (by far the most by any Met) and his first against the White Sox which was the only team, besides the Mets, that the 29-year-old had not hit a home run against.

Alonso finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored out of the cleanup spot.

–Jesse Winker followed suit with a solo shot of his own in the first inning to give New York back-to-back home runs in the opening frame and an instant 3-0 lead. The home run was Winker’s second with the Mets since being traded by the Washington Nationals and 13th overall.

The newcomer has been on a tear recently, finishing the night 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored a game after going 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Winker now has eight hits in his last 11 at-bats, but was replaced in the field by Tyrone Taylor in the sixth as manager Carlos Mendoza does his best to juggle playing time for all of his outfielders.

-Staked to an early lead, Jose Quintana weaved in and out of traffic through his five innings of work. The lefty had at least one runner on base in every inning, but he managed to give up just two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks while maintaining the lead. He struck out six.

Because of all the baserunners, the 34-year-old had a high pitch count and went into the fifth at 90 pitches. Luckily for him, despite a leadoff single by Luis Robert Jr., Quintana needed just eight pitches to get out of the fifth inning and record the win. He lowered his ERA to 4.27 and improved to 7-9 on the season.

Over his last two starts, Quintana has allowed one earned run over 11.1 innings which is definitely a positive sign after a four-start period where he allowed 19 earned runs in 20.2 innings.

-Up 4-2 after three innings – much like Friday night – the Mets were unable to totally separate themselves from the White Sox. They scored a run in the sixth thanks to Starling Marte’s RBI single (his first RBI since returning from the IL), but other than that Chicago’s bullpen did a good job of keeping its team in the game.

-It didn’t matter, though, as New York’s bullpen shut the door on the White Sox offense in relief of Quintana. Huascar Brazoban, Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton each pitched a scoreless inning to set up the save chance for Jose Butto with Edwin Diaz unavailable after pitching in three straight games.

-Butto didn’t have the same amount of success as his predecessors, allowing a run on three hits and allowing the game-winning run to step up to the plate. But with a three-run lead, the Mets’ cushion was large enough for Butto to end the game and get his third save of the season.

-At eight games above .500, New York is now the highest its been over .500 this season and will look to go for the sweep on Sunday.

-The Mets also gained a game on the Atlanta Braves who lost to the Philadelphia Phillies and are now 2.0 GB for the third Wild Card spot.