WASHINGTON — Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded against a gassed 23-year-old Nationals pitcher. Alonso closed his eyes and took a deep breath on a 2-1 count. Then the Mets slugger sent Joan Adon’s 86th and final pitch of the night to the moon — which settled down as a grand slam over the left field wall.
Alonso watched it sail — the ball hung in the air for nearly seven seconds — but he didn’t wait for it to fall before he flipped his bat and jogged around the bases. Alonso’s first-career grand slam was also his first home run of the year, and it was all the Mets needed to break open a scoreless game and beat the Nationals, 5-0, on Saturday night at Nationals Park.
The Mets’ third straight win of the year wasn’t just all offense. Far from it.
Mets starters also continued their strong start in their first turn through the rotation.
New Amazin’s pitcher Chris Bassitt dazzled in his Mets debut, and first win of the year, on Saturday. Bassitt threw six scoreless innings and allowed three hits, one walk and registered eight strikeouts across 93 pitches. GM Billy Eppler traded for Bassitt in March, just a couple of days after MLB’s lockout was lifted — sending right-handed top prospect J.T. Ginn and pitcher Adam Oller to Oakland in exchange.
Nationals hitters were baffled by Bassitt’s pitch mix, which featured a fastball, slider, changeup, cutter, sinker, and curveball. Mets catcher James McCann would go through Bassitt’s entire arsenal, showing the signs as the right-hander shook his head before nodding on his final decision.
Bassitt’s first strikeout of 2022 came at the expense of one of the best hitters in baseball. Besides the fact striking out Juan Soto is a feat in and of itself, Bassitt began that at-bat behind in the count, 3-0. His cutters and changeup weren’t getting Soto to bite, so Bassitt switched to his four-seamer. He painted the inside of the plate with two fastballs, before getting Soto to swing and miss on a 94 mile per hour four-seamer to end the at-bat with an impressive whiff.
On Saturday, Bassitt became the second pitcher in history to record a scoreless Mets debut of at least six innings with eight or more strikeouts. Colin McHugh was the first, when he hurled seven scoreless innings and punched out nine in 2012.
So move over Max Scherzer and, eventually, Jacob deGrom. Bassitt may technically be the No. 3 starter, but there’s certainly another ace in the Mets rotation.
