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.

Pete Alonso lofted the walk-off sacrifice fly Monday night for the New York Mets, who edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series.

"You give Pete Alonso a chance, and you feel pretty good about your chances there," he said. Alonso is now slashing .318/.428/.604 with nine homers and 36 RBI on the season. The 3