Alonso closes on 300th career home run

Pete Alonso is still chasing his 300th career home run after making his first visit to Citi Field as an opposing player Monday night.

He certainly knows how New York Mets fans feel about him, though. They made sure of that — over and over again.

Alonso went hitless for the Baltimore Orioles during their 2-1 win that eliminated the Mets from playoff contention, but a crowd of 35,800 gave the popular slugger a standing ovation and chanted his name before each of his four plate appearances.

Baltimore Orioles player Pete Alonso acknowledges the fans before his first at bat against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday.

Photo: Imagn Images

“I appreciate their sentiment and their support — for just showing appreciation for the years of the effort and performance and doing whatever I could do to help the team win,” Alonso said. “I guess that’s kind of how I digest that.”

Shortly before first pitch, the Mets aired a video paying tribute to Alonso, who hit a franchise-record 264 homers and made five All-Star teams over seven seasons with the club. The homegrown first baseman was the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year, when he set a big league rookie record and led the majors with 53 home runs.

Footage of Alonso’s charitable endeavors aired along with clips of his first homer, his two Home Run Derby wins and the Polar Bear’s most memorable drive — the go-ahead homer in the ninth inning at Milwaukee that rallied the Mets past the Brewers in the deciding game of their 2024 Wild Card Series.

“Coming back and seeing everything kind of condensed like that, it’s special and it’s much appreciated,” he said.

Alonso, who was warming up along the left-field line, tipped his cap and tapped his mitt to acknowledge the cheering crowd when he was introduced over the public-address system.

“Just a really cool moment,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “Just shows how much impact a player can make on a fanbase, this city.”

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

Alonso walked in the third, when he hooked his potential 300th homer foul into the upper deck in left field, before grounding out in the fifth and striking out in the eighth immediately before Gunnar Henderson’s tiebreaking solo homer.

The 31-year-old Alonso is hitting .268 with 35 homers, an AL-high 100 RBIs and an .859 OPS for the last-place Orioles, who are three games behind Cleveland for the final American League wild card. He extended his consecutive games played streak to 567, second-longest among active players.

Alonso left New York after last season as a free agent to sign a US$155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore. Despite an opening-day payroll of more than US$350 million, the Mets endured a 12-game losing streak in April and have spent most of the season in the NL East basement.

“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,” Alonso said.

Alonso has 299 career homers, the same number as friend and former Mets teammate Francisco Lindor. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Alonso this week could become the third player to hit his 300th home run against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games.

“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.”