Alvarez's first '25 HR all Holmes, Mets need to blank Nats

WASHINGTON -- It only took five at-bats for Francisco Alvarez to make his presence back in the Mets’ lineup known.

In New York’s 2-0 win at Nationals Park -- Alvarez’s second game back after being out since the end of Spring Training (March 24), when he suffered a left hamate bone fracture and subsequently underwent surgery -- he showed exactly why the Mets are excited to have his bat in their order once again.

Alvarez’s first game back on Friday, when he went 1-for-4 with a single, was a sort of warmup, in a way. So when he stepped to the plate in the top of the second inning on Saturday, Alvarez was ready -- even after a 46-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning.

The Mets had two outs and Jesse Winker on first base after a single. Winker didn’t stay at first long, though. Alvarez took a first-pitch slider up and inside from Brad Lord for a called strike. Lord stuck with the offering, looking to get further ahead in the count.

But Alvarez was ready.

New York’s backstop barreled the next offering to right field with a 98.8 mph exit velocity, the ball soaring through the air and landing in Washington’s bullpen.

"I got really inside the ball there, and the ball was able to kind of straighten out and it didn’t tail off [foul],” Alvarez said via interpreter Alan Suriel. “... I didn’t know it was a home run off the bat. I saw that there was somebody at first, so I had to bust it out of the box there.”

"When he's able to hit a ball out like that, pretty impressive,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I didn't think -- off the bat, I didn't think that ball was going to go. And it just kept going. He's got the ability to use the whole field and drive the ball with authority, and that's what makes him a special player.”

It’s an encouraging sign for the 23-year-old, who had a down season in 2024 (11 long balls) after launching 25 homers in a promising rookie campaign in ‘23. Last year, it took 24 games -- and an injury stint that sidelined him from April 20 to June 11 -- for Alvarez to hit his second home run of the year, after launching his first in the second game of the season (March 30 vs. the Brewers).

Alvarez has gotten that injury stint out of the way already, and he (and the Mets) are confident it will take many fewer games to produce home run No. 2.

"I think as a hitter, we're not always focused on trying to hit home runs,” Alvarez said. “We're trying to have good at-bats. And I think that if I'm having good at-bats and I'm able to barrel up baseballs, I think I'm gonna have good results.”

While Alvarez had a day at the plate, he also caught a stellar game from Clay Holmes, who extended the Mets’ starting pitching streak of games without allowing a homer to 14. Holmes tossed five scoreless innings while navigating a 25-minute pregame rain delay and that first-inning delay. He allowed four hits and issued zero walks while striking out two.

It was particularly impressive considering Holmes is still adjusting to being a starter, after spending most of his career as a reliever. But he leaned on the coaching staff and his teammates -- and of course, Alvarez -- to navigate the rain delays.

"There's a lot of room for growth, but overall, it's been -- I felt pretty good,” Holmes said of his transition so far. “And I think today was good -- just like you said, you're experiencing something new and having to deal with those things. But for me, a lot of it's been relying on the people I have around me. … So in that regard, it hasn't been all on me -- I've been able to trust people around me, and I think it's been a group effort.”