Mets lefthander David Peterson turned in a quality start, allowing two runs in six innings. Otto Lopez homered in the first and Eric Wagaman went deep in the sixth. Peterson struck out nine and scattered three walks and five hits, benefitting in particular from a double-play ground ball in the fourth.

Alonso’s grand slam was one of four homers hit by the Mets in a 10-4 demolition of the Marlins at loanDepot park. After three frustrating offensive games in Houston, where they managed only five runs total and lost twice, the Mets jumped all over right-hander Cal Quantrill in the fifth inning and coasted.

Alonso ended up re-signing with New York (two years, $54 million with a player option after the first year), but his presence in the middle of the Mets’ lineup wasn’t always a given. In free agency, as he put it, Alonso and agent Scott Boras received “dialogue from a number of places over the course of the offseason.”