Pete Alonso turned a milestone into a result the Baltimore Orioles desperately needed. Alonso hit his 39th and 40th home runs of the season Monday night, with the second blast pushing Baltimore ahead for good in a 4 to 3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The decisive swing came in the eighth inning. Alonso drove a two run homer that erased a one run deficit and gave the Orioles their first lead of the game. It was his fourth career season with at least 40 home runs, another measure of the consistent power that has defined his career.
Two swings change the game
Toronto built an early 3 to 0 advantage, but Baltimore worked its way back through the long ball. Alonso started the response with a solo homer for number 39, and Gunnar Henderson also went deep before Alonso delivered the final turn in the eighth.
The comeback ended a three game losing streak for Baltimore. Yennier Cano earned the win, and Rico Garcia closed the ninth for his 10th save. Alonso finished with three runs batted in, accounting for most of the Orioles offense on a night when every run carried extra weight.
The 40th homer also extended an eventful September for Alonso. He reached 300 career home runs earlier in the month, then added another major power benchmark with the shot that beat Toronto. A round number can sometimes arrive in a low pressure moment. This one changed a game in the thick of a fading postseason race.
The playoff math remains difficult
Baltimore still has a narrow path to the final American League wild card. The Orioles remained four and a half games behind the Chicago White Sox after Monday, while Toronto sat three and a half games back. Both clubs need wins and help, and either could face elimination as early as Tuesday.
That context made Alonso's eighth inning at bat more than a milestone chase. Baltimore needed a win to preserve even a slim chance, and its biggest power hitter supplied it after the Orioles spent most of the night trailing.
Toronto has now lost five of seven, a damaging slide at the point of the calendar when there is almost no room to recover. Baltimore has little margin of its own, but Monday's result kept the Orioles alive for another day and gave Alonso a signature moment in his first season with the club.
The series continues Tuesday, with Chris Bassitt scheduled for Toronto and Max Scherzer scheduled for Baltimore. The playoff odds remain long. Alonso made sure the race did not end Monday night.
*Featured image: Pete Alonso batting for the New York Mets in 2024. Photo by Johnmaxmena2, released under CC0 through Wikimedia Commons.*