NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Pete Alonso鈥檚 first Yankee Stadium swing with the Baltimore resembled many of the Polar Bear’s swats during seven seasons for the New York Mets.
Alonso hit a tying homer, drew a pair of walks and scored both runs in Friday night’s
“It鈥檚 awesome to kind of come in wearing new colors and it鈥檚 like all right instead of like a crosstown rival, now we鈥檙e a divisional rival,” said Alonso, who left the Mets in December for a
Alonso tied the score 1-1 in the second inning with a drive off Will Warren into the right field second deck. He homered for the second time in four games and is hitting .203 with five homers and 14 RBIs for his new team.
鈥淗e鈥檚 showing flashes of the Pete Alonso we all know and love,鈥� Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said before the game. 鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 probably just getting used to the change of scenery, but also getting into the flow of the season as well.鈥�
Alonso played his 20th game at Yankee Stadium and hit his eighth homer at the ballpark.
鈥淵ou go down memory lane. There’s a lot of things you think about just being here for so long,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淢y first taste of professional baseball was playing for the (Brooklyn) Cyclones and then kind of working my way up from there.鈥�
Alonso was not offered a contract by the Mets, who also allowed Edwin D铆az to leave and traded Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil after finishing 83-79 and missing the playoffs by one game.
鈥淏oth the Orioles as an organization and myself, I feel like we align and fit perfectly,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淲hen you have something good, you focus on it.鈥�
Alonso said he never heard from Mets owner Steve Cohen or president of baseball operations David Stearns before signing with Baltimore.
鈥淔or me, having that respect from the guys that I was with every day, the guys that I was going to battle with so to speak, from the manager to the players, having that respect is obviously nice,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 no final conversation from a brass or ownership standpoint.鈥�
A homegrown Met, Alonso became a Citi Field fan favorite. He was voted 2019 after hitting .260 with a major league-high and rookie record 53 homers along with 120 RBIs.
New York replaced him with Jorge Polanco, agreeing to a Polanco has played two games at first base for the Mets and is on the injured list with a New York has used five first baseman and began Friday a MLB-worst 10-21.
鈥淥n paper, that鈥檚 not good,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淏ut I remember in 2024 things were very bleak and whatever from an outside perspective. Baseball is a long season. It鈥檚 a marathon. And you look back at the 2024 Mets, that could be a perfect example of yeah, it鈥檚 bad, but there鈥檚 five months left in the season. There鈥檚 always time.鈥�
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