NEW YORK—The buzz started in batting practice when Pete Alonso came on the field, and the early arrivals began chanting his name. The cheers grew louder when Alonso came out of the Orioles’ dugout to acknowledge the ovation.
A few minutes later, when Alonso stepped to the plate as the game’s second batter, the cheers were even louder, and he waved his helmet in thanks.
After he flied to right field, the 35,800 at Citi Field began chanting: “Fire Stearns,” blaming David Stearns, the New York Mets president of baseball operations, for failing to pursue a contract with Alonso after last season.
In each of Alonso’s at-bats, fans stood and cheered. They even yelled for a long foul ball, hoping he’d hit his 300th home run. Alonso walked, grounded to short and struck out in his succeeding at-bats in the Orioles’ 2-1 win over the Mets on Monday night.
“I think it provided a lot of energy to the game,” Alonso said. “I thought it was a great environment to play in tonight, and it’s much appreciated.”
Gunnar Henderson hit his 23rd home run in the top of the eighth against Eduarniel Núñez (1-1) to break a 1-1 tie.
“I feel like I’ve been swinging at a lot of the right pitches and seeing them well,” Henderson said. “Do it enough, good things will happen, and I’m glad it came through then.”
Yennier Cano (3-3) retired Bo Bichette on a grounder to third to end the seventh.
Carson Benge singled against Grant Wolfram leading off the eighth. Wolfram struck out Mark Vientos, and Marcus Semien and A.J. Ewing flied to left.
Rico Garcia pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
The Orioles (73-78) trail Cleveland (76-75) by three games for the third wild-card spot. The Guardians lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-3. Toronto, which lost to Detroit, 6-5, is a game behind Cleveland.
Jackson Holliday singled against Jonah Tong in the second and advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Carlos Alvarez after Christian Encarnacion-Strand struck out. Holliday scored on Heston Kjerstad’s double to right. Ewing’s 10th home run in the fourth against Brandon Young tied it, 1-1.
Young allowed one run on five hits in five innings, struck out six and equaled a career high with five walks.
“Gunnar coming up right here and hit the homer, it’s almost like a guy making an interception and just taking the momentum back right there,” Young said.
Josh Walker retired each of the five batters he faced, his 17th straight scoreless outing.
What did the Orioles think of the reaction to Alonso? Henderson was on deck for Alonso’s at-bat.
“Felt like a playoff atmosphere, like cheer, whenever he was coming up,” Henderson said. “It just shows how well liked he is here and just how respected by his fans and former teammates.”
Young felt the vibe was much different than other regular-season games.
“It was cool warming up in the bullpen, hearing the crowd chant his name,” Young said. “Every at-bat, just waiting for that homer.”
Manager Craig Albernaz has been impressed by Alonso’s work ethic throughout the season.
“It’s just a really cool moment, just shows how much impact a player can have on a fan base, the city,” Albernaz said. “He’s doing that here already in Baltimore. Pete deserves every bit of that.”
How did Young pitch? Young has perhaps two starts remaining this season.
“I was battling myself out there all night,” Young said. He threw a career-high 106 pitches.
“Body feels good but just was like not kind of not synced up totally with every pitch. Five walks, not great, but to just give up one run. It’s big, get through five.”
Albernaz was hoping for more from Young, but he did keep the Orioles in the game.
“It wasn’t his best outing by any stretch,” Albernaz said. “It was not his best outing, but it was outstanding for BY to battle through that and give us a chance to win.”
What does it mean? It would have been nice to see Alonso homer in his return, but he does have two more games.
What’s the stat of the day? 12. The Orioles struck out 12 times. It was their fifth consecutive game striking out at least 10 times. They’ve struck out 10 or more times 68 times this season, a franchise record.
What’s the word? “As awesome as it is, we’ve got people here to see a baseball game. All right, let’s go. Let’s get to it.”-Alonso on the ovation..
What’s next? Shane Baz (6-15, 4.05) will start against Sean Manaea (5-7. 4.79) on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]