Mark Kanha leads the Mets to finish seven games

Pittsburgh – No help will come from outside – not now, however, not in the ways that really matter. When the Mets lost Pete Alonso to a left wrist injury that could cost him most of the next month, they knew they’d need to turn inside for help.

Significantly, this meant asking for more Mark Canha and Mark Vientos, two of the other first basemen on their roster. What these two achieved – or didn’t accomplish – during the early part of the season hardly matters. What they do now, particularly in Alonso’s absence, could go a long way towards changing the course of this season.

So it was heartening for the Mets to see Cana double three home runs, including a go-ahead, in a 5-1 win over the Pirates on Saturday to snap a seven-game losing streak — the team’s longest in nearly four years. . The victory included a strong start from Kodai Senga, another Francisco Alvarez homer and an all-out game by Brandon Nemo. But Canha’s contributions have been the longest running.

Dropped to the 9th hole in the lineup in part due to a season-long slump, Canha reached the plate in the seventh after the Pirates intentionally walked left-handed fielder Louis Gillorm. Canha found a Dauri Moreta slider who caught a whisper from the outside edge of the strike zone, then lifted it to right center field to plate a pair.

The hit, Canha’s first double in nearly a month, gave the Mets the lead for good. He later added another RBI double in the ninth inning to score Tommy Pham, who contributed a two-hit game of his own.

“Honestly, I haven’t felt like I had a ‘hot streak’ this year yet,” Kanha said. “I’m just trying to stay present and have the right attitude about it all. … Just don’t say death.”

Things didn’t start out smoothly for Canha, who hit his first putt, settled for a fielder’s choice in the top of the fifth, and fielded an error in the bottom half of the frame. At that point, Kanha had to “shake myself up and dig deeper and figure it out,” he said

The catch is, it doesn’t have to be Kanha who lifts the Mets up every day even though he plays the same position as Alonso. It could be any person, any hitter, any number of names. Nemo certainly did his part on Saturday, hitting base three times, driving the team home in his first inning and making a couple of notable rollers — including a jumping grab to steal Connor Joe from a potential three-run hit after Singa walked In the bases loaded in the third.

But outside of Nemo and Alvarez, there are a few Mets regulars who hit really hard. So it would certainly be beneficial for Canha to at least become one of those bodies.

“He did it very calmly [improved] said director Buck Showalter. “You see a bunch of averages creeping in, be it [Starling] Marte, Mark or Pham – the guys we know have a great track record in the past. Hopefully, little by little, they’re starting to get back there.”

Even after a 2-for-4 afternoon, Canha’s total numbers—a .244/.327/.398 slasher with five homers and 21 RBI—remain well below his career standards. But it’s been much better than that over the past three weeks, with a low strike rate and OPS creeping towards 0.900. It’s not quite a hot streak, as Kanha himself has pointed out. But it’s a sign that he may be on his way to shedding his early funk for the season.

The fact that Canha’s development coincides with Alonso’s absence only underscores the importance of it.

“I always want to take jobs and do a good job, wherever that may be,” Kanha said. “One of the things I’ve been most proud of throughout my career is my versatility and ability to hold and do a decent job. … Every time, every run, every situation is an opportunity to redeem yourself.”