Pete Alonso stares down the Mets' tail end as slump threatens playoffs

MILWAUKEE – The return of a certain polar bear from hibernation was at the top of 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 to extend their season with a Game 3 victory over the Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, it would be helpful to include their hard-hitting first baseman.

Alonso entered the game without a home run since September 19, when he went deep against the Phillies.

That blast was also the last extra-base hit for Alonso, who entered the game 1-for-5 (.200) in the wild-card series.

He walked three times in the Mets' Game 1 win.

“I feel like I'm hitting pretty good shots and I feel really consistent,” Alonso said. “I just have to keep going and good things will happen.”

Alonso, who enters free agency after the World Series, played possibly his last game in a Mets uniform on Thursday.

He says the thought only occurred to him when he was asked about it.

“I really don’t want to think about that at all,” Alonso said. “My entire focus is deep in the playoffs.”

Alonso won't be entering 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 in a full season.

Manager Carlos Mendoza was asked before Thursday's game if he felt Alonso had put too much pressure on himself.

“I don’t see that and I don’t feel that,” Mendoza said. “He’s the same guy. Yes, it's been tough for him all year and it's definitely been tough for him the last two or three weeks, but I like the way he controls the strike zone.

“He's one shot away, but I don't see him trying too hard or panicking or putting too much pressure on himself, I don't see that. I see the same guy keeping it casual.”

The Mets got late home runs from Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor as they swept the Braves in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday and secured a wild-card berth.

The Mets did not hit a home run in the nightcap or in the first two games of their series against the Brewers.

This lack of pop only highlights Alonso's recent problems.

“It doesn’t feel like he’s lost confidence,” Lindor said. “It looks like he’s working and working to get better. I think he feels like he had a good year.”

Lindor was asked if he thought Alonso's looming free agency had weighed on him.

“I didn’t see that at all,” Lindor said.

For the Mets, the difference between a productive and unproductive Pete Alonso is the gap that exists between a polar bear and a cub.

“He’s a guy who can lead a team,” Mendoza said.

Alonso still had time when the Mets finished batting practice at American Family Field and retreated to their clubhouse for final preparations for Game 3.

If the Mets were lucky enough to advance to the NLDS against the Phillies, there would be two games in the pad known as Citizens Bank Park and the possibility that Alonso would find a friendly environment.

“Homers are going to happen,” Alonso said. “I think if we just keep going together as a group and hit the ball hard when it comes over the middle of the dish, the home runs will happen.”