Pete Alonso felt right at home on Tuesday night.
With the Baltimore Orioles down a run in the top of the ninth inning against the New York Mets, Alonso launched the 300th home run of his career into the Citi Field bleachers to tie the game. The former Mets star who was playing his first series back in Queens slammed his bat in jubilation before he trotted around the bases.
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Mets fans cheered for Alonso and even gave him a curtain call. It was clear Mets fans were acting defiantly as they lamented the front office’s decision to let Alonso walk in free agency last year. He said last September he “definitely thought about” re-signing with the Mets but he got an offer from the Orioles he couldn’t refuse.
Instead, it came back to burn the Mets as New York looks to get to the finish line following an extremely disappointing season that has seen the team in the bottom of the barrel in the National League East and trailing the Washington Nationals by 2.5 games for fourth.
Furthermore, on Tuesday, the Orioles won the game 7-5. Baltimore improved to 74-78 on the year and dropped New York to 69-82.
“I appreciate all the support for all the years I’ve been here, all the life I’ve lived here,” Alonso said after the game. “Obviously, they’re recognizing that and they appreciate that. It’s a two-way street. Really appreciate it.”
The curtain call Mets fans gave Alonso appeared to irk pitcher Sean Manaea.
Manaea got the start, allowed two runs (both solo homers) in 5.1 innings and struck out six.
“As the 2026 Mets, I know we have definitely underperformed. But we are — the guys in here work their (tails) off every single day and to have that kind of reaction to an opposing player — could be anybody — is crazy to me,” he said. “Again, I’ve got nothing but respect for Pete. But yeah, just never seen anything like that before.
“Pete’s not here. He’s just not here. So, I know everybody loves him. He’s the man. But, yeah, he’s not here. So, to see the reaction from the fans like that, I don’t know, it’s just different.”
Alonso became the first player in MLB history to hit his 300th home run against a team he played 1,000 or more games for.
He also received a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Monday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.