Alonso’s 30th home run leads Orioles to 5-3 win over Rays

BALTIMORE—Signing a hefty free-agent contract brings lofty expectations, and in his first season with the Orioles, Pete Alonso is living up to them.

Alonso, who should have recorded his 30^th home run on Wednesday night when a clear homer was called foul after clearing the foul pole, hit his true 30^th homer, leading the Orioles to a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays before 25,963 at Camden Yards on Friday night.

Last December, Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million contract, and so far, he’s played each of the Orioles’ 129 games, extending his consecutive games streak to 545 games. The 31-year-old first baseman became the eighth Oriole to hit 30 homers in his first season with the team.

Alonso joined Frank Robinson, Albert Belle, Miguel Tejada, Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy, Nelson Cruz and Mark Trumbo.

He’s also in the midst of a career-high 13-game hitting streak and has played an excellent first base.

In the bottom of the sixth, he made a terrific play on arguably the fastest player in baseball, Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson, who grounded to Alonso, who then made a diving tag of  first to beat Simpson.

“Great, sure, awesome, but at the end of the day, I just want to win games,” Alonso said. “Obviously, that can happen via the homer, but for me, whatever I can help produce and help put runs on the board and prevent them in the field, I don’t care, I just want to win. Whatever I can do offensively, defensively, running the bags, doing the little things right, I just want to win ball games. That’s all it is.”

Alonso also had a first-inning single that scored Jackson Holliday, who had singled. It raised his batting average to .271.

“It takes a long time to have a good season,” Alonso said. “Sometimes you don’t see the fruits of your labor right away, and that’s where patience comes in, that’s where stubbornness comes in, when you have something you know that’s good for you, you just have to keep doing it and believing and knowing it’s going to work out.”

Holliday figured in a key play with Coby Mayo at third and Colton Cowser at first in the fifth when he appeared to fail to check his swing on strike three. He took a few steps away from home plate before third base umpire Dillon Wilson signaled that he had checked his swing.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash, who came out of the dugout to express his anger, was ejected. When asked by reporters after the game about the call, Cash responded: “Do I really need to answer that?”

Given new life, Holliday hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Mayo to tie the game, 3-3. Alonso followed with the two-run homer that traveled 443 feet to left-center, and the Orioles (62-67) led, 5-3.

Oriole starter Trevor Rogers (9-8) had one tricky inning, the second, when Tampa Bay (77-51) scored its three runs. Simpson’s RBI single scored Junior Caminero, and after Jorge Mateo reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second, Kenny Piper hit his first major league home run.

Dylan Beavers hit his sixth home run off Freddy Peralta (5-11) leading off the second. He’s homered in three straight games.

After that rough second inning, Rogers gave up three straight singles but escaped damage because Ryan Vilade was thrown out trying to steal and following Caminero’s single, Simpson hit into a fielder’s choice.

After Caminero’s single, Rogers didn’t allow another hit and retired 13 of his final 14 hitters.

“I gave it everything I had today,” Rogers said. “The fact I was able to hold 94 [mph], 96 is a testament to the work that I put in with the training staff and the strength staff. So, it was great to see. At the end of the day, we came out with a ‘W,’ and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

Rogers walked one and struck out six.

Peralta gave up five runs on eight hits in seven innings.

Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing a hit and striking out two.

Rico Garcia threw a perfect ninth, striking out two, earning his sixth save.

The win ended a four-game losing streak.

How important is Alonso to the Orioles? “It’s about what I expect, being on the other side for so many years,” Rogers said. “When he started out slow in the beginning of the year, I wasn’t worried about it. At the end of the day, he’s Pete Alonso, and I think everyone expected him to do what he’s doing at some point. So the fact that he’s doing it now for us, it’s huge, especially where we are with the time of the year. He’s going to be huge for us down the stretch.”

Albernaz appreciates Alonso on and off the field.

“He’s been the same person the whole time and our guys have responded to him,” he said. “That clubhouse is filled with just a lot of great dudes that love to get into baseball that want to get better, and Pete is so, he just wants to pass on the knowledge he has and what he sees and it just makes for a great baseball conversation.

“He’s not overbearing with it. He does a great job of being empathetic with who he’s talking to and understanding who he’s talking to because sometimes you can’t deliver the same message to the same person, you have to be a little nimble in how you deliver your messaging and Pete does a great job of that, and he gains a lot of equity in that clubhouse, how he is day-to-day, how he never changes, never wavers from who he is.”

How good was Rogers? “He did a great job of turning the page after that three-run inning,” Albernaz said. “He just set the tone, pounding the strike zone, being efficient and just not letting up off the gas. And then the seventh, it was awesome. He just emptied the tank, gave everything you have left to keep us right there.”

What does it mean? Alonso is the unquestioned most valuable player on the Orioles.                                                

What’s the stat of the day? 5. Alonso is the fifth player in baseball history to hit 30 or more home runs in seven of his first eight seasons. He joins Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, Eddie Mathews and Ralph Kiner. The only season Alonso didn’t hit 30 home runs was the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 season.

What’s the word? “He’s a top-notch individual, leader of men. But I think the best thing about him is you can go and talk to him about anything. All I can say is I’m glad it’s me not pitching against him anymore, and I can sit in the dugout and actually enjoy homers when he hits them. He’s a special player, a special human. I’m glad that he’s in this clubhouse, and he’s been playing some unbelievable baseball for us, and hopefully, that’ll continue for him.”–Rogers on Alonso

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Kyson Witherspoon pitched five hitless innings, striking out eight and walking three in High-A Frederick’s 1-0 loss to Wilmington in the first game of a doubleheader. The Keys had three hits, the Blue Rocks two.

Frederick was held to two hits in a 2-1 loss in the second game. Wilmington had four hits.

Patrick Reilly allowed a run on three hits in five innings as Double-A Chesapeake beat Richmond, 4-3.

Single-A Delmarva had eight hits, all singles, in a 3-0 loss to Hickory.

Triple-A Norfolk’s game with Nashville was rained out. They’ll play a doubleheader on Saturday.

What’s next? Brandon Young (9-3, 3.52) will start against Shane McClanahan (9-6, 3.25) on Saturday night at 7:05.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com