Pete Alonso, the NL house run chief, makes speedy return to Mets after wrist damage

NEW YORK — National League house run chief Pete Alonso returned to the New York Mets’ lineup on Sunday in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals after spending the minimal 10 days on the injured checklist with a left wrist bone bruise and sprain.

Alonso was anticipated to overlook three to 4 weeks after he was hit by a 97 mph fastball thrown by the Atlanta Braves’ Charlie Morton within the first inning on June 7. But Alonso, whose 22 homers are one fewer than main league chief Shohei Ohtani, mentioned he thought final week he’d beat the timeline by a substantial margin.

“Happy that it responded well to treatment,” Alonso mentioned Sunday earlier than the sport. “I feel excellent and I’m at 100% everything. If I’m at 100%, why wait?”

The stint on the IL was the second in Alonso’s 5 seasons within the majors. He was sidelined with a sprained proper wrist from May 21-31, 2021. The 28-year-old Alonso has missed simply 28 video games since reaching the majors in 2019.

“I kind of wanted to keep hitting those benchmarks as quickly as I could so I could get back as quick as I could,” Alonso mentioned. “I take pride in being out there and playing as many games as possible. I love the game and I love playing and I love playing with the guys here in the locker room.”

Alonso began at first base and batted fourth on Sunday for the Mets, who went 3-5 within the eight full video games Alonso missed.

Francisco Lindor, who pinch-hit in Saturday’s 5-3 loss hours after his spouse gave delivery to the couple’s second baby, additionally returned to the lineup Sunday for the Mets. New York is 33-37 and 5 video games again of the San Francisco Giants within the race for the ultimate wild card.

“I think it’s a culture – these guys take a lot of pride in posting up and being there for their teammates,” Mets supervisor Buck Showalter mentioned.