Mets first baseman Pete Alonso centered the blame on himself following Sunday night’s 8-2 loss to the crosstown rival Yankees, when his throwing error helped set the table for a six-run bottom of the eighth outburst from the Bronx Bombers.
“I messed it up,” Alonso said. “I just made an awful throw. That whole inning, this game, it’s on me. After that throw, the momentum got out of hand, and they had really good at-bats. This one’s on me.”
With the game tied at two apiece with one out and runners on second and third, Jorbit Vivas hit a grounder to first, where Alonso tried to go home to get Jasson Dominguez. He airmailed the throw well above the head of catcher Francisco Alvarez.
“From my view, a good throw would’ve had him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
The play ultimately doomed the Mets, as the floodgates opened. After Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single, Cody Bellinger smoked a grand slam to cap off the six-run frame and give the Yankees a Subway Series rubber-game win.
Granted, there were other key shortcomings that resulted in the Mets dropping two of three. Juan Soto went 1-for-10 in his return to the Bronx, headlining a lineup that was especially punchless in key situations.
The Mets went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Sunday night and 4-for-25 in the series, which continues their struggles in that department. As a team, they are batting. Soto himself is 1-for-his-last-20 with men in scoring position.
“It’s just a matter of making plays and driving in a couple runs when guys are on base,” Alonso said. “All the little things kind of add up, especially in a short series like this one.”
