Watch: Mets rally for first win of season thanks to Pete Alonso's home run
The New York Mets are finally in the win column for the 2024 season thanks to a ninth-inning rally and walk-off 2-1 win against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
It was looking bleak up until that ninth-inning rally.
The Mets had already lost the first game of a doubleheader, 6-3, to the Tigers and were no-hit through the first seven innings of the second game. At one point during the doubleheader, they had gone 13 consecutive innings without a hit. That was the longest hit-less streak in Mets history.
But their fortunes changed in the bottom of the eighth inning when Harrison Bader dropped a single into a left field to at least give them a knock. Then, in the bottom of the ninth inning, superstar first basemen Pete Alonso finally gave the team a run, hitting a lead-off homer to tie the game.
That set the stage for center fielder Tyrone Taylor to win it.
Up until that point it seemed inevitable that the Mets were starting at an 0-6 start and in pretty embarrassing fashion.
The offense has been awful each game to open the campaign as stars Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and Alonso – up until that ninth-inning home run – have been off to slow starts. The good news is all or most of those players should improve as the season rolls on and they return to their normal career levels.
But you can not get off to too bad of a start and put yourself into a hole that is difficult to climb out of. You have to start with one win and the Mets at least got it on Thursday.
The Mets entered 2024 with significantly lower expectations than they had a year ago. That is probably good news, because this year's team does not look anywhere near as talented on paper. Until the ninth inning on Thursday, it was playing worse as well.
More must-reads: