Orioles' Alonso greeted warmly in return to Citi Field

NEW YORK -- Pete Alonso returned to Citi Field on Monday night with the Baltimore Orioles on the verge of his 300th home run and received a warm welcome from Mets fans.

"So many good memories here -- I played with so many good people, talented people," Alonso said. "It's going to be interesting to see what emotions kind of bubble up, because you never can anticipate things that happen."

Alonso entered Monday hitting .269 with 35 homers, an AL-high 100 RBIs and an .863 OPS for the last-place Orioles. He had a 4.1 fWAR while his Mets replacements were at minus-0.4.

He left the Mets after the 2025 season as a free agent to sign a $155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore. New York, which didn't push to re-sign him, began the night on the verge of postseason elimination.

"I respect their decision -- the guys running the team, it's their prerogative to do whatever they think is best for them," Alonso said. "Two things can be true at the same time: I'm very happy and appreciative of my time I spent as a Met and I'm beyond grateful and appreciative for the Baltimore Orioles."

Fans sporting Alonso's old No. 20 with the Mets cheered and chanted his name during batting practice. Alonso exchanged greetings with former teammate Jose Iglesias as well as Mets owner Steve Cohen and his wife, Alex.

The Mets made the playoffs twice with Alonso. He was drafted by the Mets and hit a team record 264 homers, topping Darryl Strawberry,

"I appreciate all the support and people keeping up," Alonso, said. "I care so much about leaving it all on the field, pouring all the emotion I have and emptying the tank every night. And I'm glad that people appreciated that."

Alonso entered Monday with 299 career homers, the same number as friend and former teammate Francisco Lindor. According to the Elisa Sports Bureau, Alonso could become just the third player to his 300th career homer against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games.

Willie Horton hit his 300th career homer against the Detroit Tigers in 1979 while Torii Hunter did so for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins in 2013.

"I know 'Paco' is chasing down that same milestone, so it'd be really cool if both of us could do it in the same game," Alonso said. "That'd really be sick."