BALTIMORE -- This one was clearly fair. No doubt about it, and no replay review needed.
Two nights after Pete Alonso thought he had hit his 30th home run of the season -- until his towering fly ball over the left-field pole was called foul, then stood following a review -- the Polar Bear reached the milestone in a big way. His go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning lifted the Orioles to a series-opening 5-3 win over the Rays on Friday at Camden Yards.
Not only was Alonso’s latest home run well within play, but it traveled a Statcast-projected 443 feet to deep left-center field, his longest of the year. His previous long was a 439-footer against the Mariners on June 11.
Alonso became the seventh active MLB player to post seven seasons with 30-plus homers, joining Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Manny Machado, Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber (who has eight). Alonso, Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani are the only ones to hit 30 or more in each of the past six years.
It’s been quite a debut season in Baltimore for Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155 million contract this past offseason. The 31-year-old slugger is only the fourth free-agent signee in franchise history to club 30 homers in his first year with the team, joining Albert Belle (37 in 1999), Miguel Tejada (34 in 2004) and Nelson Cruz (40 in ‘14).
On Friday, Alonso also got the Orioles’ offense started, knocking a first-inning RBI single to extend his hitting streak to a career-long 13 games. He is hitting .480 (24-for-50) with two doubles, seven home runs and 14 RBIs during that span.
Tampa Bay took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth, when Baltimore put runners on the corners with no outs against right-hander Freddy Peralta. With one out in the inning, Jackson Holliday appeared to strike out swinging, as it seemed he didn’t hold back a check swing. Holliday was walking back to the first-base dugout when third-base umpire Dillon Wilson signaled that Holliday had held up.
Rays manager Kevin Cash did not agree with the call and got ejected after voicing his displeasure. Then, Holliday stepped back into the batter’s box and tied the game at 3 with a sac fly to center field. Alonso immediately followed with his go-ahead blast.
The Orioles (62-67) snapped a four-game losing streak, and they remain in the thick of a crowded American League Wild Card race. They have won seven of their past eight meetings with the AL East-rival Rays, who are an AL-best 76-52.