Pete Alonso is serenaded in return to Citi Field, then Orioles go on to beat Mets

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NEW YORK — This was not a Mets home game. Nor was it a crowd partial to the road team. This was, instead, a home game for one man and one man only — Pete Alonso, the former Met-turned-Orioles star whose presence drew standing ovations and chanting of his name.

When he flew out to right field to end his first at-bat, these New Yorkers sighed. When Alonso rocketed a pitch down the left-field line and foul, they groaned that they did not witness his 300th career home run. When right-hander Jonah Tong walked Alonso in the third inning, there were boos.

Let Alonso hit, dang it!

That was the prevailing message from a Citi Field crowd serenading their hero. It’s not unusual for a New York crowd to boo their own player for issuing a walk. It is unusual for them to boo that player because the walk prevented Alonso from swinging away.

It was salt in the wound, then, when right-hander Dedniel Núñez struck out Alonso in the eighth inning, only to allow the go-ahead, game-winning home run to Gunnar Henderson in the next at-bat. The Orioles beat the Mets, 2-1, in the Alonso Return — and if Baltimore was going to top New York, these fans would’ve preferred to have at least seen Alonso do it.

Instead, Henderson belted his 23rd home run of the season. And because the Cleveland Guardians lost, the Orioles (73-78) are back within three games of the final American League wild-card spot with 11 games remaining.

Hours earlier, in the bowels of Alonso’s old home ballpark, a throng of television cameras and reporters clogged a concrete hallway outside the visiting clubhouse. Alonso suddenly appeared, striding out of the clubhouse barefoot, calling out to the group: “Hey everyone, hi, hello.”

He reiterated how “stoked” he is to be with the Orioles, and how he can “respect it professionally” that the Mets opted to move in a new direction.

“Baltimore started the dialogue super, super early and really I didn’t want to mess up a good thing because this organization has shown a lot of promise,” Alonso said of his free agency. “For them, I respect their decision. And for me, it’s the guys running the team, it’s their prerogative to do whatever they can, whatever they think is best.”

Then, after 10 minutes of questions, he apologized and excused himself to attend a hitting meeting.

On Sunday night, Alonso said he didn’t know exactly how he would be received upon returning to New York. There should’ve been no doubt. As soon as Alonso rose the dugout steps to warm up, chants of his name began from Mets fans with early field access.

The chants continued for the tribute video the Mets showed on the video board, and during his first plate appearance (after which a “Fire Stearns” chant took over, directed at New York’s president of baseball operations). They continued for his second and third and fourth plate appearances.

And when Brett Baty couldn’t make a play at first base on what turned into Heston Kjerstad’s RBI double, there were more chants for Alonso as fans wished he still patrolled first base.

He doesn’t, though. He won’t.

“Hopefully,” Alonso said before the game, “I get to finish my career here as an Oriole.”

Alonso chose Baltimore, and in the first game of this three-game Alonsofest, Baltimore came out ahead.