Alonso ties for home run lead with walk-off

Peter Alonso closed one door and opened another with a walk-off homer Monday afternoon.
The No. 2 Mets prospect shut off the lights at Cashman Field with his 36th dinger of the year, which tied him for the Minor League lead in long balls with Class A Advanced Daytona's Ibandel Isabel. The ninth-inning shot lifted Triple-A Las Vegas to a 4-3 victory over Sacramento in the final game of the regular season.

"It's really, really exciting to put an exclamation point on the season like that," Alonso said. "That was super fun. ... I mean, who doesn't want to be Home Run King?
"And I gotta tip my cap to Ibandel, the Florida State League is not an easy place to hit. so kudos to him. But yeah, this is one of those things you grind out to the very end, to the last at-bat. It's a tie right now, but I'm OK with that. I'm happy with my season and especially today with how it ended ... hitting that shot just meant the world to me."

It marked the latest milestone in a season of them for Alonso, who was the first player in professional baseball to reach 100 RBIs on Aug. 9. And the 23-year-old closed the organization's tenure in Vegas with a bang. The Mets will move their Triple-A affiliate to Syracuse next season.
"It was a super special moment," Alonso said. "There have been a lot of great players that have played at this field -- going all the way back to the '80s. So I just thought it was a really cool sendoff."
After grounding out to short in the opening frame, the 2016 second-rounder battled through a 12-pitch at-bat against Giants No. 27 prospectTyler Herb in the third. The right-hander won that one, inducing a popout to first base.
"I was definitely frustrated after that. He threw me a slider and I just missed it," Alonso said. "But he had a great last game for them. He threw really well, threw all of his pitches for strikes, and he did a good job of keeping them in the game while he was out there."
Gameday box score
MLB.com's No. 61 overall prospect got the best of Herb in the fifth, lining a 1-0 offering into center field for a two-out base hit.
"The past couple of weeks, I've just been feeling really good at the plate. Today, I just tried to keep a consistent approach and it paid off for me," Alonso said.
The Florida product flied out to right after a six-pitch at-bat against righty Jose Valdez in the seventh before stepping in against San Franciso's seventh-ranked prospect Tyler Beede (4-9).

"I was just looking for anything over the plate that I could drive. He threw me a first-pitch fastball and off she went," Alonso said. "I think that was the farthest ball I hit all season. As soon as it touched the bat, man, it was just the sweetest feeling.
"Last at-bat of the season, last at-bat at Cashman Field, we're moving to Syracuse, there were a lot of people there today, so it was a really cool moment for me. So I just kind of sat back and enjoyed it for a couple of seconds."
Left-hander P.J. Conlon allowed three runs on seven hits without a walk while fanning six over six frames for the 51s. Righty Gerson Bautista (3-1) walked two in a hitless ninth for the win.