The Mets walked off the Pirates last night, winning 4-3 thanks to a game-winning sacrifice fly by Pete Alonso in the bottom of the ninth. Heading into Monday's game, New York knew they were going to be in for a tough matchup as they were facing perhaps the league's most exciting young starting pitcher in Paul Skenes,

Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, as they so often do, got on base in front of Soto to set up the "Polar Bear's" heroics. And Alonso, who had already given the Mets the lead with an RBI single in the seventh inning, put up a professional at-bat, taking a 98-mile-per-hour fastball to deep right field to score the winner.

Often for the Mets, the first six innings of a game tend not to matter. It’s not as if the Mets are bad early in games. (They’re not.) It’s just that from the seventh inning onward, they turn into a juggernaut.