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.

“It just shows how much impact a player can make on the fan base, the city,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He’s doing that here in Baltimore already. But to come back, Pete deserves every bit of that.”

Henderson, who was on deck for all the Alonso standing ovations, said it “felt like a playoff atmosphere” and “it shows how well-liked he is here, and how well-respected he is by the fans.”

After they settled down from rooting for Alonso a fourth time, Mets fans began filing out when 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.

The Orioles won it on Henderson’s swing, but the pitching staff made it possible. Right-hander Brandon Young maneuvered around five walks and used a career-high 106 pitches, but he held the Mets to one run (an A.J. Ewing blast) in five innings.

The relievers behind Young stood tall. Left-hander Josh Walker delivered a crucial 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and right-hander Rico Garcia earned the save. Both are former Mets themselves — for some reason, they didn’t receive the same sort of fanfare.

Henderson snapped the longest RBI drought of his career (12 games) with his homer. On Sunday, Orioles assistant hitting coach Brady North said Henderson’s work has been as diligent as ever, even as results haven’t arrived.

“He’s handled it really well, especially this last month or so,” North said of Henderson’s down season. “I think he’s kind of, I don’t want to say surrendered, but he’s like, ‘OK, this is where I’m at, this is what the season is going to look like, I’m going to get the most out of this last month.’”

Henderson agreed, to an extent.

“I think it’s more just going out there and playing free,” Henderson said. “When I’m putting in the work, I’ve always been pretty on top of that and ultra-focused on that. I think it’s more, like you said, accepting it and being OK with it.”

Hours before first pitch, 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.

“I kind of see it and take it as, they appreciated what I brought to the field,” he said. “I take pride in giving everything I have every single night, and I take it as they’re showing their appreciation for all the years of effort and performance. I appreciate them.”

The chants continued after the tribute video the Mets showed on the video board, which Alonso said reminded him of how quickly life moves.

“I blinked and seven years went by,” he said. “It really went so quick.”

The chants picked up again 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 the infield.

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.