Pete Alonso launched his 300th career home run Tuesday night, a tying shot in the ninth inning against his former team, and Coby Mayo’s inside-the-park homer in the 11th sent the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 victory over the New York Mets. Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson also went deep for the Orioles (74-78), who stayed three games behind Cleveland for the last 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 rookie A.J. Ewing's glove as he crashed into the fence. The ball rolled away from Ewing as he fell to the ground, allowing Mayo to circle the bases and score standing up.
Alonso, who hit a club-record 264 homers for the Mets before signing with the Orioles last December, was hitless in his first seven plate appearances of the series before launching a 414-foot solo drive off Kodai Senga to tie the score at 3 with one out in the ninth. A pumped-up Alonso spiked his bat toward the Orioles dugout and rounded the bases as the Citi Field crowd of 28,097 — down from 35,800 on Monday — roared. Fans chanted his name until Alonso emerged from the dugout for a curtain call, after which chants of "Fire Stearns" aimed at Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns began.
It was Senga’s first blown save in eight chances this season. The teams traded runs in the 10th, when Encarnacion-Strand raced home on a wild pitch and Marcus Semien laced a one-out RBI double for the Mets. Alonso struck out against Pintaro (2-2) in the 11th before Mayo’s inside-the-park homer made a winner of 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 had a sacrifice fly and Juan Soto delivered an RBI single. Up next Orioles RHP Chris Bassitt (7-5, 4.88 ERA) starts Wednesday’s series finale against Mets RHP Robert Stock (1-3, 5.93).
