Pete Alonso’s Homer Off Jacob deGrom Symbolizes Baltimore Orioles’ New Era

The Baltimore Orioles needed to add juice this past offseason after finishing last in the AL East in 2025, so they made one of the biggest blockbuster moves in franchise history by signing star first baseman Pete Alonso. The five-time All-Star is one of baseball's best power hitters, and he displayed that in Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the Texas Rangers. With the Orioles down 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Alonso dispatched a 97-mile-per-hour Jacob deGrom fastball into their bullpen in left-center field to tie the game.

The 400-foot shot was the 31-year-old's first homer with his new team. All aboard the Polar Express 🐻‍❄️ pic. twitter.

com/FTV2Mm7sFq — Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 31, 2026 Alonso also got Baltimore's first hit of the game when he singled to center in the bottom of the first. After that, the squad only had one other baserunner before the 2025 Silver Slugger went yard. The Orioles went down in order after Alonso's homer, but they knocked deGrom out of the game with a two-out rally in the fifth.

Third baseman Blaze Alexander got the ball rolling with a single to center before left fielder Taylor Ward hit an infield single and shortstop Gunnar Henderson plated both players with a double to tie the contest 3-3. Although Baltimore lost, those two innings symbolized Alonso's effect on the game. The Florida native flexed his power against a two-time NL Cy Young Award-winner who had previously dominated the lineup that night.