Pete Alonso leaves early in loss vs. Braves with left wrist contusion, considered day-to-day

ATLANTA — The one player the Mets couldn’t afford to lose was Pete Alonso. But an absolute nightmare scenario played out during the top of the first inning at Truist Field on Wednesday night when Alonso was hit by a pitch and removed from the game.

As is typical with the Mets, the whole ordeal sparked a controversy.

With two on and two out, Braves starter Charlie Morton came inside with a 97 MPH fastball and hit Alonso on the inside of his left wrist. The slugger and the league leader in home runs went down in a heap.

However, the injury appears to be minor. Alonso underwent X-rays, which were negative. He was diagnosed with a left wrist contusion and is considered day-to-day. The Mets are waiting to see how the swelling subsides before making any decisions about playing time, but it looks like he may be able to avoid an injured list stint.

“It’s super promising that the X-rays were negative and we’re going to get a little additional imaging,” Alonso said. “We’re going to get a bone scan tomorrow just to check. It’s super encouraging, but then also at the same time, we just want to see how the swelling plays. Hopefully, it goes down sooner rather than later, and I get right back on the horse.”

Tommy Pham was inserted as a pinch runner and stayed in the game in left field. Mark Canha was moved to first base in the bottom of the inning. It was a curious decision considering the Mets had another first baseman on the bench in rookie Mark Vientos.

Vientos left the dugout steps to get a helmet but the Mets opted for Pham instead, who went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, a game-tying sacrifice fly and a walk.

“He’s one of our best hitters,” Showalter said. “Right now he’s a hot hitter for us and Mark is our second-best first baseman, probably. It helped us out defensively and we got a good offensive player that’s hot right now in the lineup. He gave us some good at-bats. Almost hit another [home run].”

Braves fans booed Alonso as he came to the plate with the organist playing “Hush Little Baby, Don’t Say a Word.” The song was a reference to Tuesday night when Alonso was caught on a dugout camera trash-talking right-hander Bryce Elder after he homered off of him in the third inning.

The dugout microphone caught Alonso saying, “Throw it again. Please throw it again!”

Elder didn’t hear it but later told reporters he didn’t take issue with it. It was gamesmanship for Alonso. The Atlanta fans, however, did take issue: A sellout crowd cheered as the Mets’ best hitter walked off the field injured.

“Obviously, that’s a consequence of what I said in the dugout and the hot mic,” Alonso said. “It’s unfortunate because I think it got blown out of proportion. It was just friendly, competitive banter. I guarantee if you were to mic up both dugouts, you’re going to hear certain things that people could take offense to. For me, I didn’t mean anything by it.

“Honestly, Francisco got a hanging slider and I got a hanging slider and I asked him nicely to throw another one to [Daniel Vogelbach].”

The home run, a massive 448-foot shot, was Alonso’s 22nd of the year. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who is currently on the IL, has the second-most homers with 19.

Alonso insisted the pitch from Morton wasn’t intentional. The right-hander even sought him out to apologize.

“Charlie — or Chuckie — came right after I got X-rayed,” Alonso said. “He came and was looking for me when I got out of the X-ray machine. He just wanted to apologize, he didn’t mean to. So for people speculating, or this and that, I just want to clear that up. A) Chuckie is a good guy. B) The situation didn’t call for it either. Honestly, if anyone were to ask anything or speculate anything, there’s nothing to it.”

The 2019 National League Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star is the heart and soul of this scuffling Mets squad. An emotional leader in the clubhouse and a leader on the field, he’s an early contender for NL MVP.

Brett Baty helped the Mets rally behind their fallen leader, lining a single to center to score Jeff McNeil and give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Francisco Alvarez hit his ninth homer of the season in the second to make it 2-0. Pham’s two-run homer off Morton gave the visitors a 4-1 lead, but ultimately they lost 7-5.