Pete Alonso got the kind of Citi Field welcome most players dream about Monday night - and then some.
Before the Orioles and Mets even got rolling, the former Met was greeted like a returning star. Fans erupted when Alonso was introduced during lineup announcements, then rose for a tribute video and gave the franchise’s all-time home run leader a standing ovation that felt entirely earned.
When he came up for his first at-bat, Mets pitching prospect Jonah Tong even stepped off the mound to let the moment breathe, and Alonso answered by tipping his helmet as the cheers rolled through the ballpark. The Mets also did right by him with his old walk-up song.
That part was all warm and proper. What happened after that became something else.
For the rest of the night, Citi Field kept treating Alonso like the main event, even while he wore an Orioles uniform in a game Baltimore won 2-1 on the final pitch. Mets fans stood and chanted his name every time he came to the plate, no matter the situation. The atmosphere around his at-bats had the feel of a postseason scene - except the noise was coming from a home crowd pulling for the other team’s hitter.
“This lasted longer, and into every at-bat, than I feel like I’ve seen,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said after the game.
The crowd’s loyalty to Alonso was on full display in the third inning, when he sent a high drive down the left-field line that looked like it had a shot at his 300th career home run before hooking foul. Two pitches later, Tong missed with a full-count cutter and walked him, drawing boos for the pitcher.
Later, when Tong got Alonso to ground out to Francisco Lindor to end the fifth with a runner still in scoring position and the game tied, the reaction around the ballpark felt negative. The same thing happened again when Alonso flied out to shallow right in the first and struck out in the eighth.
Lindor said Alonso deserved “every ounce of love” he got from the crowd. But he also made it clear the celebration had gone too far when it drowned out the pitcher who had earned the out.
“I think next time we gotta give the pitcher a little more love too, because at the end of the day, we’re trying to win the game,” Lindor said.
He added that Alonso is “one of the most beloved players that’s come through here.” But he also said, “It gets to a point where it’s like, ‘Show Jonah Tong a little love, he got him out,’”
Lindor followed that up with: “Next time, let’s clap a little bit more for him.”
Tong, for his part, gave the Mets a strong night on the mound. He worked six innings without allowing an earned run in the loss, a solid outing for a young pitcher who had a rough summer in Triple-A before returning to the majors this month. He kept Baltimore’s lineup in check and did enough to give his club a chance.
“Really proud of the young kid on the mound that stepped off the mound, didn’t let anything derail him,” Green said of Tong. “He attacked every hitter, pitched as well as he possibly could.”
The oddest part of the night may have come in the eighth, when Alonso struck out against Dedniel Núñez and the SNY broadcast showed some Mets fans heading for the exits. That made sense if the game had gotten out of hand, but it was tied 1-1 at the time. Gunnar Henderson then broke the tie with a solo homer off Núñez two pitches later.
Even in the ninth, with Kodai Senga striking out Orioles leadoff hitter Dylan Beavers while Alonso waited on deck, some fans were still fixated on getting the slugger one more chance. “We Want Pete” chants broke out during the at-bat, and the crowd’s focus on Alonso outlasted the actual game situation.
Monday night also said plenty about where the Mets are right now. The reaction likely would have looked different if they were still playing for something meaningful against Baltimore.
Instead, the loss officially eliminated them from postseason contention. And with first base continuing to loom as a problem since the Mets let Alonso walk in free agency, the decision from president of baseball operations David Stearns has not aged well.
The “fire Stearns” chants were as loud as they’ve been all summer at Citi Field.
Green chose to frame the whole scene as a lesson for his own clubhouse.
“I think it’s a message to our players,” Green said, “that if you sell out to win in this city and you do impressive things, they’ll love you forever. I think that’s a powerful message.”
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