Pete Alonso reaches 40 home runs on son’s 1st birthday to help Orioles rally past Blue Jays

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Teddy Alonso won’t understand it now, because this is only his first birthday, but Dad did something cool for him Monday night.

Teddy turned 1. Pete Alonso marked the occasion by hitting two home runs while walking to the plate to a one-time song: “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

“That’s his birthday song,” Alonso said after he powered the Orioles to a 4-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays on the 21st night of September. He did so with his 39th and 40th home runs of the season. One day, when Teddy is old enough, this will be quite the memory to share.

“Sick, yeah. 100%, it’s obviously special,” Alonso said. “Hopefully a couple years down the line I can kind of look back and kind of bookmark this and keep it for the archives, and hopefully he appreciates it one day.”

The Orioles, without a doubt, appreciate it Monday night. They’ve appreciated it all season. It’s a shame this performance from Alonso had to come during an otherwise lost year, because he deserves so much more than the postseason elimination that is rapidly approaching.

Alonso, Baltimore’s most expensive free agent signing in history, has been worth every penny.

“His baseball card, his accolades, the track record is there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Hitting 40 home runs and having over 100 RBIs in this league is really impressive and the consistency he does it, that doesn’t happen by accident. Just all the work he puts in behind the scenes.”

Even with this win, the Orioles might be on the verge of expiry. Their elimination number remains two, but that still means Baltimore could be eliminated as early as Tuesday should the Chicago White Sox win and the Orioles lose.

Alonso, however, has tried his best to carry the Orioles. By crushing his 40th homer of the year, he became just the ninth player in team history to reach that number in a single season, and he’s the first to do so since Anthony Santander in 2024.

His 108 RBIs lead the American League, and there’s the legitimate reality that this poor season from the Orioles could’ve been so much worse without Alonso present.

“I know where we are with the standings, but couldn’t be more proud to be an Oriole, and this group, this organization, this city,” Alonso said. “Just beyond appreciative to be a part of it. I’m really excited for not just the remaining few games of the season, but I’m excited for what we have coming down the pipe.”

Gunnar Henderson joined Alonso’s strong day at the plate with a homer, triple and single. It was a banner day for the shortstop, who is finally showing more of his potential as the season nears the end.

While Alonso has carried his end of the bargain during his first season here, few around him managed much success. Henderson, for instance, is one of those underperformers. Even with his 24 homers, Henderson’s on-base-plus-slugging percentage is just .718 — down from the heights of .893 in 2024.

The underperformances are spread throughout the clubhouse, and they coalesce into this 76-81 season.

Fundamental aspects of the game eluded Baltimore once again, as was displayed in the seventh inning.

After Christian Encarnacion-Strand led off with a single, catcher Carlos Narváez — who replaced Samuel Basallo in the top half of the inning — attempted to bunt the potential tying run to second. Narváez popped up his bunt for an easy out, and then Rece Hinds grounded into an inning-ending double play.

It was another example of what frustrated Albernaz during a series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers. After those losses, Albernaz pointed to a few “awful” bunt attempts and “interesting” swing decisions, which helped Milwaukee’s already formidable pitching staff find success.

Basallo, meanwhile, took a few foul balls off his body Monday. In the fifth inning, one foul ball deflected right off his face mask, and a trainer checked on Basallo for a lengthy period. Basallo remained in the game until Narváez replaced him.

“I haven’t seen a foul tip like that square a catcher up in a long time, and he felt fine,” Albernaz said. “The thing is, with that, the concussions, sometimes that happens later on. When he went back out to catch the next inning, he was flinching on some balls, and I didn’t feel comfortable with him staying in there and flinching. So he’s getting looked at now, just to double and triple check, make sure he’s OK.”

The Orioles immediately fell behind because right-hander Shane Baz struggled in the first inning. He allowed three runs via RBI singles from Nathan Lukes and George Springer, as well as a sacrifice fly from Sean Keys.

But Baz wound up producing a quality start, allowing only those three runs in 6 2/3 innings. Baz became only the fourth pitcher since 2000 to manage a quality start after allowing the first three hitters to score, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“You can kind of go one of two ways,” Baz said. “You can either be a you-know-what, or you can kind of get territorial and just kind of try and take control of the game and not let what happened those first four or five at-bats dictate the rest of the game. And I think I did a good job of that.”

Baltimore’s first life came from Alonso’s opposite-field homer in the first inning, and Henderson added a line-drive shot to right field in the sixth. The Orioles required Alonso’s heroics once again in the eighth.

Christian Franklin, who entered as a pinch hitter, worked a walk to begin the frame. Then with two outs against right-hander Tyler Rogers, Alonso walloped a sinker on the inner half for his 40th homer.

“The Pete home run doesn’t happen without his leadoff at-bat and working a walk,” Albernaz said of Franklin.

This two-homer game will be a footnote in a largely disappointing season. But Alonso is exempt from any blame for that. And someday in the future, Teddy’s first real watching of his dad’s big day at the plate will be devoid of the angst that comes from a losing season.