CINCINNATI - Pete Alonso didn’t sound like a player lobbying for an All-Star nod Saturday night. He sounded more like someone trying to keep the conversation honest.
After the Orioles beat the Reds 8-5, Alonso acknowledged the slow start that left him with a .668 OPS at the end of April. He also made clear that, from his point of view, the first half matters. Still, the numbers he’s put up since then have turned him into a legitimate option if Major League Baseball needs a replacement for the Midsummer Classic.
“I’m just calling a spade a spade. There’re more deserving first basemen, I think,” said Alonso, who has produced an .898 OPS since May.
“I didn’t come off to a great start. I had a pretty bad April.
Granted, the past two months have been great. I’m very happy with how things have been going, but my April, if I’m not an All-Star, again, I don’t necessarily deserve it from those four weeks.
From a complete season, big picture, I would say I’m in a good spot. Always room for improvement.
But if I’m ultimately not, listen, I didn’t play well enough.”
That humility came after another strong night at the plate. Alonso reached base five times, working two walks, adding two singles, an RBI single and a double.
One of those walks was a battle: he ran Hunter Greene through nine pitches, fouling off five of them before taking first base. That at-bat helped set the table for Samuel Basallo’s three-run homer in the first inning.
Greene said afterward, “I was making great pitches,” Greene told reporters. “I was getting to the inside.
I was getting to his hands. He doesn’t like the ball inside.
So I was obviously pitching to my strengths and his weakness, a great hitter, but I was definitely beating him, and I just wasn’t able to put him away.”
Alonso’s impact wasn’t limited to the batter’s box. In the field, he handled a short-hop throw from Blaze Alexander, fell to the dirt, then pumped his fist and yelled after making the play that ended the fourth inning. It was the kind of defensive sequence that showed how much he’s grown from the early days of his career.
The Orioles needed that stop, too, because Brandon Young had to work through a rocky start. Young gave up four runs in the first two innings, matching his season high, but settled in enough to finish five innings and keep the Reds at four. Baltimore’s offense did the rest against Greene, who was making his first start back from the injured list.
Basallo got the party started with a three-run homer in the first, jumping on a 100 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate. It was his second long ball of the series.
“He has a really special chance, with his talent, to do a lot of incredible things in this game as a catcher,” Alonso said of Basallo. “I mean, he’s got the runway of eight years, and it’s going to be really special.”
Baltimore then took control in the fourth. Blaze Alexander delivered a two-run single, Adley Rutschman followed with a two-run double, and Alonso came through with an RBI single against left-hander Sam Moll. Rutschman’s double was his second of the game and gave him 18 this season, two more than he managed in 2025.
Alonso finished the scoring side of his day with another double in the ninth. Craig Albernaz summed him up simply afterward: “That’s what Pete does, man,” Albernaz said. “He’s a professional hitter.”
The All-Star case isn’t just about one night, though Saturday certainly helped. Alonso leads the Orioles with an .819 OPS, and over the last two months he has looked much more like the hitter who made the All-Star Game four straight years with the Mets. If he’s left out, it would be the first All-Star Game without him since 2021.
There is at least one opening already. Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said after rosters were announced Saturday night that he will skip the game to rest lower-back issues. More spots could open if injuries create additional vacancies, and Boston first baseman Willson Contreras is also in the mix as a replacement candidate.
Alonso said he hopes Rutschman will have company in Philadelphia on July 14, and he also pointed to Young, with his 3.38 ERA, and Rico Garcia as Orioles who could merit consideration.
“To go with more guys, I think, is more fulfilling and way more fun,” Alonso said. “It just adds to the experience.”
For now, the numbers and the recent surge are doing the talking for him.
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At the same time, Baltimore is trying to manage the rest of the roster with an eye on a Cubs matchup that brings a left-handed starter into the mix. The lineup card reflects that balancing act, with the Orioles turning to several younger bats and moving pieces around as they look for the right combination, even as the bullpen uncertainty keeps hanging over the day. [Read more 🡒]