Pete Alonso will be in a familiar position Monday when he enters Citi Field in New York on the doorstep of a milestone home run.
He will just be wearing an unfamiliar uniform.
Alonso will look to make his first visit to Citi Field as an opposing player a historic one Monday, when he and the Baltimore Orioles take on the New York Mets in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Brandon Young (9-4, 3.71 ERA) is slated to start for the Orioles against the Mets’ Jonah Tong (2-1, 4.80) in a battle of right-handers.
Both teams lost the rubber game of a three-game road series on Sunday. The Orioles were routed by the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 while the Mets fell to the New York Yankees 2-0.
Alonso, who hit his 299th career homer in Saturday’s 7-3 loss, didn’t go deep Sunday. But he reached another milestone by collecting his American League-best 100th RBI with a fifth-inning single.
In his first season with Baltimore after spending his career with the Mets, Alonso leads the majors with five 100-RBI seasons since his 2019 debut in New York, though San Francisco’s Rafael Devers is two RBIs shy of his fifth 100 RBI campaign in that span.
The first baseman also is fourth in the AL with 35 homers — the seventh time he’s recorded at least 30 homers in a season since 2019, tied for the most in the big leagues with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber.
Alonso has produced those power numbers while also playing in a major league-leading 1,158 games since 2019. But despite the durability and consistency, the Mets never made Alonso a formal offer when he reached free agency following last season. The slugger signed a five-year deal with the Orioles in December for a reported $155 million.
“Both the Orioles as an organization and myself, I feel like we align and fit perfectly,” Alonso said when the Orioles visited the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on May 1. “When you have something good, you focus on it.”
The playoff hopes for Alonso and the Orioles (72-78) grew dimmer with Sunday’s loss, which dropped them four games behind the Cleveland Guardians (76-74) in the race for the third and final AL wild-card spot. Both teams have 12 games remaining.
“We can moan and groan and complain about where we’re at, but we dug ourselves this hole,” Orioles pitcher Trevor Rogers said. “We have to dig ourselves out of it.”
The Mets (69-80) never dug themselves out of the hole they created during a 12-game losing streak in April. New York will officially be eliminated from playoff contention with one more loss or one more win by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But the Mets have thrived in the role of spoiler since the trade deadline, when they raised the white flag by dealing seven veterans. New York is 22-14 since Aug. 3, a span in which it has won series against the contending Guardians, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.
The Mets were positioned to take the Subway Series against the playoff-bound Yankees after rookie Zac Thornton gave up two runs over seven innings in Saturday’s 12-2 win. Second-year right-hander Christian Scott gave up the two runs in six innings Sunday, but his effort went for naught as the visitors were limited to three hits by Cam Schlittler and a trio of relievers.
“I don’t see playoff atmospheres rattling those guys,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “Those guys are wired to handle that stuff.”
New York shortstop Francisco Lindor, a former longtime teammate of Alonso, will also enter the series with 299 homers. Lindor hit two homers, including a grand slam, in Saturday’s rout.
Young took the defeat in his most recent start last Tuesday, when he allowed six runs over 3 2/3 innings in the Orioles’ 9-5 home loss to the Guardians. Tong last pitched Sept. 7, when he earned the win after giving up four runs over five innings in the Mets’ 9-4 victory over the host Marlins.
Young didn’t factor into the decision in his lone previous start against the Mets on July 8, 2025, when he allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings in the Orioles’ 7-6, 10-inning home loss. Tong has never opposed Baltimore.
–Field Level Media
