NEW YORK — Pete Alonso homered against his former team for the second straight night, launching a first-inning solo shot that powered the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-1 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night and a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
Alonso connected off fill-in starter Xzavion Curry (0-1) to begin an early power display. Jeremiah Jackson, a former Mets farmhand, went deep in the second before Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Samuel Basallo hit back-to-back homers in the third. Baltimore launched nine homers in the series after totaling seven in its previous nine games before arriving in Queens on Monday.
The homer came a night after Alonso tied the score in the ninth inning Tuesday with his 300th career homer and took a rare curtain call on the road to acknowledge adoring Mets fans still unhappy about his departure for Baltimore last December. He rounded the bases Wednesday to another warm ovation, albeit not as raucous as Tuesday. Alonso hit a franchise-record 264 home runs and made five All-Star teams in seven seasons with the Mets, who did not attempt to re-sign him as a free agent last offseason before he agreed to a $155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore.
Samuel Basallo added an RBI single in the ninth for Baltimore. Chris Bassitt (8-5), who won 15 games for the Mets in 2022, allowed five hits — including Marcus Semien's fourth-inning RBI single — and struck out six over 6 2/3 innings, matching his longest start this season after undergoing back surgery in June. The Orioles (75-78) moved within 2 1/2 games of the Chicago White Sox for the last American League playoff berth.