Alonso Homers Twice, Canning Victorious in Homecoming

The Mets have won four out of six games against the Dodgers, something they would love to repeat in October.

Pete Alonso homered twice, Southern California native Griffin Canning had his best start of the season, and after the teams split a pair of 10-inning thrillers to open the series, the Mets enjoyed a drama-free 6-1 victory Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

Carlos Mendoza loaded the lineup with seven left-handed hitters, the most in a Mets batting order since April 2024, per SNY. He was looking to take advantage of starter Tony Gonsolin‘s platoon splits – lefties were slashing .302/.413/.540 vs. the right-hander entering the game.

But it was the right-handed hitting Alonso who hit a two-run homer in the first to give the Mets (39-23) a 3-0 lead after Juan Soto drove in a run with a groundout. (How did Mendoza’s strategy do? The lefties who faced Gonsolin went 2-for-13 with three walks. The two righties (Alonso and Luis Torrens) went 1-for-5.)

Canning (6-2) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out seven over six scoreless innings. He threw 66 of 99 pitches for strikes and caught Shohei Ohtani looking with a runner on first on a 3-2 change-up to end the fifth.  Canning, who was born in Mission Viejo, CA, and starred at UCLA before playing for the Angels, matched his longest outing of the season.

José Castillo relieved Canning with the score at 3-0 and gave up a double to Andy Pages and hit Michael Conforto, but recovered to strike out Dalton Rushing and Kiké Hernández to end the seventh.

Alonso’s second homer, a 447-foot blast to left with a 112 mph exit velocity, was a three-run shot in the eighth that made it 6-0. Pages broke up the shutout with a home run off Ryne Stanek in the ninth.

Stats of the Game

Alonso’s home runs pulled him within 12 of tying Darryl Strawberry‘s franchise record 252. He also reached at least 50 RBIs in Game 62 for the Mets for the second time in his career, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com. The only other Mets to match that feat were Bernard Gilkey and Todd Hundley, who both did it in 1996.

Player of the Game

Alonso (2-for-4) now has 14 homers, 53 RBIs, and a .290/.386/.563 slash line. An honorable mention goes to Canning, who tossed his second scoreless outing in 12 starts and lowered his ERA to 2.90. There’s no place like home.

On Deck

The last Mets-Dodgers game of the regular season. David Peterson (4-2, 2.69 ERA) faces RHP Landon Knack (3-2, 4.58 ERA). Peterson gave up two earned runs in 7.2 IP in a win over the Dodgers on May 24, and Knack gave up one earned run in six innings when he took the loss against the Mets at Citi Field on May 25. The 4:10 p.m. ET game will air on SNY and MLB Network.

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