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Alonso Hits 300th HR to Tie Game in 9th, Gets Curtain Call at Citi Field
Confirmed
In Short: In a dramatic turn of events, Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run to tie the game in the ninth inning, earning a memorable curtain call from Mets fans at Citi Field.
Orioles slugger Pete Alonso punctuated his return to Citi Field with a clutch home run on Tuesday night against his former team, the Mets. The game, part of an interleague series, saw Alonso play for the first time as a visitor at Citi Field in Queens.
Alonso, who spent his entire professional career with the Mets until this season, was a beloved figure among Mets fans. In the ninth inning, trailing 1-0, he stepped in with the bases empty and one out. Right-hander Kodai Senga threw him three straight offspeed pitches, but Alonso hit a game-tying home run that brought out the cheers from the Mets crowd.
The Orioles went on to prevail on Tuesday night, 7-5, in extra innings, making Alonso's ninth-inning homer a necessary one. The Mets' relievers, Austin Warren, Nate Lavender, and Kodai Senga, combined to retire eight straight batters in relief of Sean Manaea before Alonso's milestone homer.
Alonso's game-tying home run was his 36th of the season, and he now boasts a slash line of.267/.362/.499. The home run was his 265th while playing for the Mets, making it fitting that this historic blast came against the Mets at Citi Field, considering 264 of them came while he played for New York.
Manager Craig Albernaz noted, 'I haven’t really seen a curtain call from a guy wearing gray pants,' alluding to Alonso's road uniform. The season started slowly for the slugging first baseman, but here in mid-September, he has Alonso-esque numbers with 36 homers and 101 RBIs. In return, Alonso gave the group signed baseballs and bats, signed their jerseys, and offered the group tickets to a game in Baltimore.
What's confirmed
- Coby Mayo hit a tie-breaking three-run inside-the-park home run in the 11th inning Tuesday night for the visiting Baltimore Orioles, who stormed back to beat the New York Mets 7-5 in the middle game of a three-game interleague series.
What's still developing
- Alonso took the first two out of the zone, and the third one he launched 414 feet for career home run No. 300.
- Alonso's game-tying homer certainly brought out the cheers from a Mets crowd that right now may be more partial to the franchise's all-time home run leader than they are to their own team that has been eliminated from postseason contention, at least in that particular moment above.
- Manaea allowed two runs and four hits while walking none and striking out six over 5 1/3 innings.
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson homered in the second then Ex-Mets slugger Pete Alonso tied the game in the ninth with his 300th career homer for the Orioles (74-78), who are three games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the final American League postseason spot.
- Orioles starter Shane Baz gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out two in four innings.
- Three batters later, it was Soto on an RBI single that tied the game 2-2.
- “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Sean Manaea, a close friend of Alonso who nonetheless made clear that he did not love the team’s own crowd supporting the opponent.
- “Everyone in the dugout was saying, ‘Go out there,’ and they were right,” Alonso said.