Alonso Shines, Blade Tidwell Struggles as Mets Fall to Cardinals

The Mets took the field on Monday for an early afternoon matchup against the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter. Blade Tidwell, a top arm in the Mets’ system who struggled a year ago in Syracuse, got the start for New York. Meanwhile, old friend Steven Matz was on the bump for St. Louis. The teams battled hard for nine innings, with the Cardinals coming out on top 7-4.

Tidwell flashed decent stuff, reaching 99 miles-per-hour with his fastball, but he ultimately faltered against a Cardinals lineup featuring many of the team’s major league players. He worked around a Willson Contreras double to get through a scoreless first inning before allowing four straight baserunners, including a three-run homer from Luken Baker, to start the second. Tidwell was able to settle down and get out of the inning, ending his day with three earned runs allowed in two innings on four hits, a walk, and a strikeout.

Following Tidwell’s rough second inning, the Mets received three consecutive scoreless innings from José Buttó, Huascar Brazobán, and Dom Hamel. Butto, whose role in the major league bullpen is fully cemented, induced a groundout and two lineouts. Brazobán, still battling for a role in the bullpen, struck out two despite falling behind in counts early. And Hamel, who, like Tidwell, is a highly touted prospect, allowed a hit and struck out a batter in his clean inning of work.

Pete Alonso had a great day at the plate, reaching in all three plate appearances. He walked in his first and final plate appearances, but his biggest impact came in his second trip to the plate. With runners on the corners and two outs, Alonso sent a pitch from Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley to the right-center field gap. The ball traveled to the wall, scoring both runners and cutting the Mets’ deficit from 3-0 to 3-2.

José Azócar, who spent last year in the Padres organization before joining the Mets, and Chris Williams, who spent last year in the Twins organization, were the other offensive standouts from Monday’s game. Both players hit solo home runs, with Azócar’s shot barely lining over the left-center field wall, while Williams’ was a no-doubter out to left field.

The offensive effort wasn’t enough, as Tidwell’s rough outing plus three runs allowed between Joander Suarez and Douglas Orellana, had the Mets playing catch-up for most of the game. Ultimately, the Mets dropped the game 7-4.

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Alonso has yet to be retired in five plate appearances in the early going of spring training. He has walked four times, with his only hit being the two-run double he hit off Helsley, one of baseball’s elite closers. Coming off a down year by his standards, Alonso will be looking to reestablish himself as one of the premier offensive players in baseball this year after re-signing with the Mets.

On Deck

The Mets’ next spring training game will be Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. ET against the Astros in West Palm Beach, with pitching matchups to be determined. The game will be broadcast on MLB Network and can be listened to on Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM.

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