MILWAUKEE — A certain Polar Bear’s return from hibernation was high on the Mets wish list as they considered the task ahead of them Thursday night.
Pete Alonso’s roar has been muted for weeks, and if the Mets were going to extend their season with a Game 3 victory over the Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, it would help to have their slugging first baseman involved.
Alonso entered play without a homer since Sept. 19, when he went deep against the Phillies.
That blast was also the last extra-base hit for Alonso, who was 1-for-5 (.200) in the wild-card series as play began.
He walked three times in the Game 1 Mets victory.
“I feel like I am taking pretty decent at-bats and I feel really consistent,” Alonso said. “I just need to keep swinging and good things will happen.”
Alonso, who is headed to free agency after the World Series, was possibly playing his last game in a Mets uniform on Thursday.
It’s a thought he says hadn’t entered his head until he was asked about it.
“I really don’t want to think about that at all,” Alonso said. “My whole focus is going deep into the playoffs.”
Alonso won’t be hitting the market on the upswing: He produced a solid but unspectacular .240/.329/.459 slash line with 34 homers and 88 RBIs during the regular season.
The home run total was the lowest of his career for a full season.
Manager Carlos Mendoza, before Thursday’s game, was asked if he felt Alonso has put too much pressure on himself.
“I don’t see that and I don’t feel that,” Mendoza said. “He’s the same guy. Yeah, it’s been hard for him the whole year and it’s definitely been hard for him the last two or three weeks, but I like the way he is controlling the strike zone.
“He is one swing away, but I don’t see him trying to do too much or panicking or putting too much pressure on himself, I don’t see that. I see the same guy that is keeping it loose.”
The Mets received late homers from Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor in overtaking the Braves on Monday in the first game of a doubleheader to clinch a wild-card berth.
The Mets did not homer in the nightcap or in the first two games of their series against the Brewers.
That lack of pop only underscored Alonso’s recent struggles.
“It doesn’t feel like he has lost confidence,” Lindor said. “It looks like he is working and working to be better. I think he feels he had a good year.”
Lindor was asked if he thought Alonso’s looming free agency had weighed on him.
“I haven’t seen that at all,” Lindor said.
The difference for the Mets between a productive Pete Alonso and non-productive one is the gap that exists between a polar bear and cub.
“He’s a guy that can carry a team,” Mendoza said.
There was still time for Alonso as the Mets finished batting practice at American Family Field and retreated to their clubhouse for final Game 3 preparations.
If the Mets were fortunate enough to advance to the NLDS against the Phillies, two games in the launching pad known as Citizens Bank Park awaited, and the possibility Alonso would have a friendly environment.
“Homers are going to happen,” Alonso said. “I think if we just continue collectively as a group to hit the ball hard when they come over the middle of the dish, the homers will happen.”
