NEW YORK -- For the second straight day, a gaggle of reporters crowded around Pete Alonso’s locker in the Mets’ postgame clubhouse, eager to learn the secret of his success. They kept a safe distance from Alonso, however, wary of spreading the illness that was clearly affecting him: red nose, tired eyes, nasal voice, energy sapped.

From nearby, Jeff McNeil looked over and grinned. “I’m trying to get whatever he’s got,” McNeil chirped. “It’s working.”

Alonso shot his friend a look; although he would rather not hear it, his illness seems only to have improved him. Battling a sinus infection all week, Alonso homered Tuesday, repeated the trick in dramatic, walk-off fashion on Wednesday, then homered again Thursday in a 3-2 victory over the Rays that gave the Mets their first series win since mid-April.

That solo shot was Alonso’s Major League-leading 16th of the season. He is the second-fastest to 16 homers in franchise history, behind only Dave Kingman in 1976, and his 70 career home runs at Citi Field are one shy of Lucas Duda’s ballpark record.

“If I’m out there, I’m going to shoot my best bullet -- always,” Alonso said. “I just don’t want me not feeling well to be an excuse.”

So sick was Alonso earlier this week that, on Tuesday night, he slept in a separate bedroom from his wife to avoid passing along the infection. After Alonso hit a 10th-inning walk-off in Wednesday’s win over the Rays, manager Buck Showalter texted him to ask if he might be interested in an afternoon off, or at least a DH day. Alonso bristled at the notion.

“That’s never in my mind,” he said. “If I’m physically able to go, I’m always willing to go. I’m always willing to push myself. I take pride in being out there and playing every day. I post up.”

So Alonso settled into his customary roles of starting first baseman and cleanup hitter, and the results followed as they often do. Leading off the fourth against Rays rookie Taj Bradley, Alonso clobbered a home run 446 feet to the batter’s eye in straightaway center field -- one of his favored spots over five seasons with the Mets. That shot briefly gave the Mets the lead, and although Tampa Bay tied things two innings later on a Josh Lowe homer off Tylor Megill, the suddenly resilient Mets went back on top when Tommy Pham hit an RBI infield single in the bottom of the sixth.

The win went to Megill. The save went to David Robertson, who pitched a scoreless ninth. But the respect of the clubhouse went to Alonso, who has long since proven himself as one of the league’s most durable players. Since breaking into the Majors in 2019, Alonso has appeared in 97.3% of the Mets’ games. That includes a stretch of 151 consecutive contests from 2021-22, as well as all 45 this year. He has talked in the past of wanting to play 162 in a season, and to challenge José Reyes’ rather attainable club record of 200 in a row.

These are goals most modern players do not share, requiring sacrifices like the one Alonso made this week. Sniffling, congested and generally just exhausted, he didn’t only post up -- he made it count. Alonso now boasts an .872 OPS with 37 RBIs to go along with his league-leading homer total.

“He really likes answering the bell,” Showalter said.

With more than 24 hours to recover before the Mets’ next game on Friday, Alonso hopes the worst of his symptoms are behind him. In a general sense, the Mets would hope that’s true of their entire team, which mustered a series win over the first-place Rays after slogging through four weeks of sub-.500 baseball. Late Thursday afternoon, Mets players cited the series as evidence that they can compete with anyone. There are plenty of reasons to believe that could be true.

The challenge, Showalter offered tongue-in-cheek, will be continuing this success once Alonso returns to full health. The manager joked that he’d like to find a way to keep Alonso feeling ill so that this power streak can continue.

Told of those comments in the postgame clubhouse, a weary Alonso cracked a smile and shook his head.

“I mean, I can [also] play well when I’m not sick,” he said.