Mets’ Pete Alonso hits clutch homer in bounce-back effort

A weary Pete Alonso, after a Game 1 loss that pushed the Mets’ backs against the wall, said the club was about to find out what it was made of.

On Saturday, the Mets slugger was composed of all muscle.

The powerful first baseman, in his first postseason series of his life, clobbered the go-ahead home run in the fifth inning of an eventual 7-3 victory over the Padres at Citi Field to keep the Mets alive in the wild-card round for one more day at least.

Alonso stepped up in a just-tied game, Jacob deGrom having coughed up a run on a Jurickson Profar RBI single in the top of the inning. Alonso needed just one pitch to unknot it, hammering a Nick Martinez cutter a projected 402 feet to the left-field seats to put the Mets ahead to stay.

Alonso, who has waited four full seasons for this moment, breathed it in. The 27-year-old watched the trajectory of the ball, taking just a few steps toward first base with his eyes peering to the fans cheering beyond the wall, before he began his trot. After crossing home plate and while approaching the dugout, Alonso raised his arms to the crowd, imploring the fans to get louder, and they responded.

“Being able to come up clutch in a spot like that to get the lead, that was awesome,” said Alonso, who called it the most important homer of his career. “Hopefully I can hit a few more like that [Sunday] and moving forward. So I’m just really happy I was able to help the team.”

That would be his only hit of a 1-for-3 night, but Alonso walked twice and helped wear down San Diego pitchers: He struck out in the third inning but on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, and he saw 10 pitches before walking in the seventh (then came around to score on a Jeff McNeil double).

The Mets forced the Padres pitchers to throw 187 total pitches in eight innings, which included nine walks.

“We didn’t waste any swings,” said Alonso, who is the first Met to hit at least 40 homers in multiple seasons. “We capitalized on stuff in the zone, and we took our walks when opportunities weren’t there in the zone.”

Alonso contributed defensively, too, making a nice sliding stop on a Trent Grisham smashed grounder in the top of the seventh inning. He flipped to Edwin Diaz, who was covering first, to retire the sudden Mets-killer who has two home runs this series.

But Alonso, the two-time Home Run Derby champion, always will be known for his bat. The slugger had gone 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts in his postseason debut Friday, a game in which he was punched out in the first inning with runners on the corners.

After 530 major league games without a taste of true October baseball, his first nibble was bitter.

His second was sweet.

“This is fun baseball,” Alonso said. “I’m just so excited to come to the field [Sunday]. This is what it’s for. We’re going to come ready to go.”