Fastball

New York Mets Star is Youngest Player in Last 50 Years of Team History to Accomplish This

Monday was a big night for New York Mets star Francisco Alvarez, who helped the Mets to a big win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Brady Farkas

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) reacts to hitting a game winning walk off home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the ninth inning at Citi Field on Aug 19.
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) reacts to hitting a game winning walk off home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the ninth inning at Citi Field on Aug 19. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 on Monday night at Citi Field thanks to a walk-off home run from catcher Francisco Alvarez.

At this time of the year, every win is critical. New York is now 65-60 and they remain 1.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot in the National League. Baltimore is 73-53 and 0.5 games back of the New York Yankees in the American League East.

The walk-off homer by Alvarez was his only hit of the night as he went 1-for-3. He also added a walk. The home run made some special Mets history, accomplishing something that hadn't been done for nearly the last 50 years.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media:

At 22 years & 274 days, Francisco Alvarez is the 3rd-youngest player in Mets history with a walk-off HR, older than only:

9/20/76 Lee Mazzilli: 21y, 179d
8/4/66 Ron Swoboda: 22y, 35d

Though he's missed some with injury, Alvarez has still had an impactful season for New York. He's hitting .253 with six homers and 28 RBI. He's had just 217 at-bats thus far this year. He hit 25 homers a season ago and has proven to be one of the best power-hitting catchers in the league.

The Mets will play the Orioles again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 7:10 p.m. ET. Dean Kremer (BAL) will pitch against veteran lefty Jose Quintana.

Quintana is 6-8 this year with a 4.26 ERA while Kremer is 5-9 with a 4.48 ERA.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our FanNation on SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

Published
Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

Home/History