DENVER — Earlier this week in St. Louis, when asked about his relative down year, Pete Alonso flat-out rejected the premise.

“I mean, I’m on pace for close to 40 homers,” Alonso said that afternoon. “I’m an All-Star, or I was an All-Star this year. So to beat myself up or be frustrated, it’s really no use. And I’m really excited for the end of the year where we get to play winning baseball.”

Perhaps Alonso wasn’t quite aware of how his numbers compared to previous seasons. Perhaps he blocked out the noise from those who felt Francisco Lindor or Brandon Nimmo were more worthy All-Star Game representatives. Or perhaps he simply knew a breakout was coming. Whatever his logic, Alonso has been a better player over the first week-plus of August than he was in July, thanks in large part to the two home runs he hit Thursday afternoon in a 9-1 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field.

The victory pushed the Mets back into NL Wild Card position, while knocking the Braves out of playoff position for the first time since June 2022.

Feeling right at home in the thin air of Coors Field, Alonso cranked the second-longest homer of his career — a Statcast-projected 471 feet, 18 shy of his career long back in 2019 — off Austin Gomber in the first inning, as the Mets opened the game with four consecutive extra-base hits for the first time in franchise history. He added a more modest 454-foot shot to lead off the third, finishing with his first three-hit game since June.

The Mets tacked on from there to take the rubber game of the series, most notably on a two-run shot from Mark Vientos. Meanwhile, Colorado native David Peterson, who still spends regular time in the Denver area, fired five effective innings in front of friends and family to secure a victory with Alonso’s fingerprints all over it.