Pete Alonso eclipses 100-home run mark for his career as Mets take care of Marlins

MIAMI — On a September night in Miami, with the Mets fighting for their postseason lives, Pete Alonso once again positioned himself with baseball's best sluggers. His latest accomplishment — while not a flashy award or record — provides cool context on how consistently he's featured power since debuting two seasons ago. 

In the first inning of Tuesday's game against the Marlins, Alonso launched a 425-foot, two-run home run off Marlins starter Edwin Cabrera. Then in the ninth, he blasted a ball 407 feet for his second homer of the night. 

They represented the 100th and 101st home runs of Alonso's career. 

“Wow," Alonso said of his thoughts while rounding the bases after No. 100. "Just having triple digits in my career in such a short time in two and a half years roughly, it’s special. It’s just really, really special."

Now for the coolest part: Alonso is the second-fastest player in MLB history to reach the 100-homer mark. He did it in 347 games, only trailing Ryan Howard (325 games). Alonso broke into the triple digits in homers faster than Gary Sanchez (355 games), Aaron Judge (371 games), Ralph Kiner (376 games) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (378 games). 

The game has seen many great home run hitters. 

In terms of his pace to triple digits, Alonso is near the top. 

"Wow," he said. "That's sick."

Alonso's home runs highlighted the Mets' 9-4 win over Miami at loanDepot Park. The Mets (70-69), who clawing to gain ground in the standings, have won nine of their last 11 games. 

In 2019, Alonso set the rookie home run record with 53 bombs en route to winning National League Rookie of the Year. In a short time, he's made an impact — both as a player and as a personality — in the Mets' organization. 

“There’s so many people that have been in my life that I’m just so thankful for: Family, friends, coaches, teammates," Alonso said. "Without those people having such a positive influence on me, for me to be able to perform like this consistently, it wouldn’t be able to happen. I just want to say thank you to everybody in my life that’s had a positive impact on me. It’s awesome."

Alonso's latest achievement occurred in Tuesday's victory. 

It certainly won't be his last. 

"This is a guy that has a bright career ahead of him," Mets manager Luis Rojas said. "He's a great human being and a great baseball player. I think those two set things up very well for a long career.

"I can see Pete having a great career, by God, by the end of it."

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Mets' offense takes advantage of sloppy Marlins 

In terms of quality, it doesn't get much uglier than Tuesday's game. The teams combined for six errors. Of their combined 12 runs, seven were unearned. 

But right now, the Mets need wins any way they can get them, so they'll take this one. 

"Games like this are going to show up," Rojas said of the sloppiness. "How do you win this game? Just staying in it."

His Mets never mentally checked out. They trudged through it all.

In the third inning, they scored twice without even having to swing the bat as Cabrera walked three batters and hit two others to end his night. In the sixth, the Marlins committed two more errors before Francisco Lindor lined a two-run single — which represented the Mets' only hit with men in scoring position. 

The Mets were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. 

It didn't matter, though, because they capitalized on Miami's sloppiness. 

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Mets' defense brings down Carlos Carrasco

In a few instances, the Marlins hit Carlos Carrasco hard. He had trouble containing them. 

On the flip side, his defense did him no favors. 

Carrasco allowed four runs over five innings, but only one was earned. In the second inning, Lindor committed an error that proved costly when that runner scored. In the third, Jonathan Villar made a throwing error to first that helped the Marlins eventually score two runs. On that Villar throw, Alonso didn't aggressively stretch out to catch the ball, though it would've been a tough play. 

“We’ve got to finish plays," Rojas said.

Luckily for the Mets, these mistakes didn't come back to haunt them in the final score.

Instead, the story centered around their young power hitter and his latest accomplishment. 

"To be able to get those numbers as quickly as I did," Alonso said, "it's truly a blessing."

Justin Toscano is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: toscanoj@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @justinctoscano