Pete Alonso stepped up in the first inning with a runner on and two outs, locked in and looking for a pitch in his sweet spot. Cubs pitcher Adrian Sampson missed the zone badly with his first three pitches. At 3-0, he finally gave Alonso a fastball, and Pete jumped on it. He crushed it down the left field line, thought it was gone, and started his home run trot. But it was just foul. The ump called him back and Alonso wasn’t happy. He’d been waiting for that pitch, and he knew he just missed his shot.
Sampson came back with another fastball on 3-1 but spiked it in the dirt. Alonso spiked his bat in frustration and tossed his gear toward the dugout. Sampson didn’t like the outburst. He shouted at Alonso, who barked right back. The two briefly exchanged words. Sampson later told the ump he just didn’t want Pete throwing equipment like that. Alonso told the other ump he was just frustrated because he believed he should’ve had a home run. The key moment was clear: Alonso got the pitch he wanted, recognized it, and barely missed. It looked like a bomb off the bat, but he was a split-second early and pulled it foul. It could have changed the early tone of the game, but instead it ended in frustration for the Mets slugger.