Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run on Tuesday night, a game-tying shot in the ninth against his former team, and Coby Mayo‘s inside-the-park homer in 11 sent Baltimore Orioles in a 7-5 win over New York Mets.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand AND Jeremiah Jackson also went deep for the Orioles (74-78), who were three games behind Cleveland for the final American League playoff spot.
Mayo snapped a 4-all tie with a three-run homer in the 11th. He connected on an 0-2 pitch from Jonathan Pintaro with two outs and sent a long drive to center field that glanced off the starter AJ Ewing’s glove as it crashed into the fence.
The ball rolled off Ewing as he fell to the ground, allowing Mayo to round the bases and score on a walk.
Alonso, who hit a club-record 264 homers for the Mets before signing with the Orioles last December, was hitless through his first seven appearances in the series before launching a 414-foot solo drive. Kodai Senga to tie the score at 3 with one out in the ninth.
An overwhelmed Alonso swung his bat toward the Orioles dugout and rounded the bases as the Citi Field crowd of 28,097 — down from 35,800 Monday — roared.
Fans chanted his name until Alonso came out of the dugout for a curtain call, after which chants of “Fire Stearns” began aimed at Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.
It was Senga’s first save in eight chances this season.
The teams traded runs at 10, when Encarnacion-Strand ran home on a wild pitch and Marcus Semien gave up a solo RBI double for the Mets. Alonso struck against Pintaro (2-2) in the 11th minute before Mayo’s homer won Alex Hoppe (1-1).
Andrew Kittredge earned his 10th save after allowing Bo Bichette‘s two-out RBI single.
New York (69-82) lost its third straight and was assured of a losing season.
Carson Benge homered for the Mets, eliminated from playoff contention with Monday’s 2-1 loss to Baltimore. Jared Young there was a sacrificial fly and Juan Soto delivered an RBI single.
In continuation
Orioles RHP Chris Bassitt (7-5, 4.88 ERA) starts Wednesday’s series finale against Mets RHP Robert Stock (1-3, 5.93).
