Pete Alonso homers in first Yankee Stadium swing for Orioles after 7 seasons with the Mets
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso’s first Yankee Stadium swing with the Baltimore resembled many of the Polar Bear's swats during seven seasons for the New York Mets. Alonso hit a tying homer, drew a pair of walks and scored both runs in Friday night's 7-2 loss to the Yankees, "It’s awesome to kind of come in wearing new colors and it’s like all right instead of like a crosstown rival, now we’re a divisional rival," said Alonso, who left the Mets in December for a $155 million, five-year deal with Baltimore. Alonso tied the score 1-1 in the second inning with a drive off Will Warren into the right field second deck.
He homered for the second time in four games and is hitting . 203 with five homers and 14 RBIs for his new team. “He’s showing flashes of the Pete Alonso we all know and love,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said before the game.
“To me, it’s probably just getting used to the change of scenery, but also getting into the flow of the season as well. ” Alonso played his 20th game at Yankee Stadium and hit his eighth homer at the ballpark. “You go down memory lane.
There's a lot of things you think about just being here for so long,” Alonso said. “My first taste of professional baseball was playing for the (Brooklyn) Cyclones and then kind of working my way up from there. ” Alonso was not offered a contract by the Mets, who also allowed Edwin Díaz to leave and traded Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil after finishing 83-79 and missing the playoffs by one game.
“Both the Orioles as an organization and myself, I feel like we align and fit perfectly,” Alonso said. “When you have something good, you focus on it. ” Alonso said he never heard from Mets owner Steve Cohen or president of baseball operations David Stearns before signing with Baltimore.