All three had their bags packed for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Cleveland. Alonso will participate in the home run derby Monday night. He leads all rookies in home runs, runs batted in (68), extra-base hits (53), on-base percentage (.372), slugging percentage (.634), total bases (206), runs (57), hits (91), multi-hit games (28), walks (37) and doubles (21).
“I just feel continually blessed,” Alonso said. “I’m living out a fantasy right now.”
If only his team was. Instead, they keep losing, and over the weekend they also became ensnared in some bad blood with the Phillies after Mets third baseman Todd Fraizer was hit by a pitch on Saturday night. It was the second time in as many nights he had been hit and the third time this season a Philies pitcher had plunked him.
Both teams were issued a warning by the umpire after Saturday’s episode, but Frazier was ejected for arguing that the Mets should not have received one. Callaway ended up being tossed, too. And Jake Arrieta, the pitcher who hit Frazier on Saturday, took exception to Frazier’s complaints afterward, saying: “He can come see me and I’ll put a dent in his skull.’’
“A little overboard,” Frazier said Sunday morning when asked about Arrieta’s comment.
In Sunday’s game, the Mets appeared to retaliate in the seventh inning when Wilmer Font threw a fastball that hit Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins in the leg. Neither team reacted at that point, although Hoskins answered back with a home run in the ninth.
A few minutes later, the Mets were done for the day. They will resume their season on Friday in Miami, where they start a 10-day road trip.
When asked what the Mets must do to improve, Alonso, the upbeat rookie, said they needed to show confidence despite all the setbacks in the first half of the season.
“I think that we need to get the ball rolling as soon as the break is over,” he said. “Everybody needs to rest up.’’