Pete Alonso returned to Queens on Friday night as the Orioles opened a three-game series against the Mets at Citi Field, and the setting gave the opener an edge that ordinary September baseball rarely has. Alonso spent seven seasons with the Mets before changing clubs, and he came into the series with 299 career home runs, one shy of a round-number mark reached by only 170 players.
That made the search interest obvious. Alonso was back in the park where 264 of those 299 homers came, and he could become the 20th player in major league history to reach 300 against his former club. He also entered the series tied with Francisco Lindor at 299, creating a rare possibility: the second time in major league history that two players could homer for No. 300 in the same game. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye did it for the White Sox on April 13, 2009.
The Orioles needed the game for more than the storyline. They were down to their last 12 games of the 2026 season, four back in the race for the last Wild Card and three behind the Blue Jays for fourth place in the division. Brandon Young got the start and made his 26th appearance in the rotation, a measure of how much Baltimore has leaned on pitching depth while trying to stay alive.
Young’s work also fit the larger shape of the season. His 3.71 ERA was the lowest in the rotation, and four Orioles pitchers were on pace to make at least 26 starts, which would tie the club record. Baltimore had also produced 10 different players with at least 30 walks, matching the Brewers and Twins for the most teams in the majors to reach that threshold and tying its own franchise mark from 1999, 1982, 1973 and 1970.
But the night still revolved around Alonso, because the numbers made the return feel loaded before he stepped into the batter’s box. He had already hit 264 homers with the Mets, so the milestone sat inside the same uniform change that made his comeback to Queens more striking. The Orioles’ opener was only the start of a three-game set, and the question hanging over the rest of the series was simple: whether Alonso would leave Citi Field with 300 home runs, or with the milestone still waiting for another night.
