Pete Alonso trips over bat in NL Wild Card Series Game 2 loss

MILWAUKEE — Count this among those weird and wacky moments that don’t show up in a box score: Batting with one out and two men on base in the first inning of National League Wild Card Series Game 2 on Wednesday, Pete Alonso hit a sharp grounder to shortstop, where Willy Adames made a diving stop but needed a moment to recover before making a throw.

As Adames flipped to second base, Alonso dropped his bat, then immediately stepped on it and stumbled to the ground. Stuck there for a moment, he never had a chance to beat out an inning-ending double play.

“That’s never happened in my career ever,” Alonso said.

“It sucks. It sucks because he had to make a play, dig the ball out of his glove. I feel like if I didn’t trip over my bat, I would have legged it out and a run would have scored there. It sucks to legitimately trip there and not get that run in.”

The Mets wound up settling for one run in the first inning of a game they lost, 5-3, to the Brewers at American Family Field to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. If the Mets drop that one as well, it could be the final act of Alonso’s Mets career. He can be a free agent next month for the first time in his career.

“I really haven’t thought of it, because my whole focus is going deep in the playoffs,” Alonso said. “I don’t want to think about that at all. I want to think about winning the game tomorrow.”

To do so, the Mets will almost certainly need more from their longtime power source, who hasn’t gone deep in 49 consecutive plate appearances — a significant departure from his career rate of one long ball every 16 trips to the plate. Since his last homer, Alonso is 5-for-38 (.132) with no extra-base hits, 13 strikeouts and just one RBI.

Alonso continues to reach base regularly via walks, and he’s been playing well defensively at first base. But he has not embodied his core identity as a slugger.

“Look, when you’re facing elite pitching staffs, it’s not going to be easy to hit balls out of the ballpark,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who recently dropped Alonso to fifth in the lineup. “Pete, he’s a power hitter, and he’s just one swing away from hitting a big one. He’s got another opportunity tomorrow, and he’ll step up.”

If Alonso doesn’t, it could be his final game in blue and orange. There are no guarantees that the Mets and Alonso will negotiate seriously in free agency, or that another team won’t swoop in and sign him away from Flushing.

A Met since the organization drafted him in the second round in 2016, Alonso hit a Major League rookie record 53 homers three years later and ranks third in franchise history with 226 home runs — a total he won’t be able to add to unless he re-signs.

But he can still hit one of the most memorable homers of his life on Thursday.

“I feel like I’m taking pretty decent at-bats,” Alonso said. “I feel really consistent. I just need to keep swinging, and good things will happen.”