BALTIMORE -- For much of Pete Alonso's first season in Baltimore, the Polar Bear has shown his prolific ability to homer the other way. In fact, eight of his first 14 home runs were opposite-field shots to either right or right-center field.
Alonso’s 15th homer, however, was a blast to left. And it was absolutely crushed.
The Orioles used a six-run third inning to record a 7-5 win over the Mariners on Thursday night at Camden Yards, with Alonso’s Statcast-projected 439-foot two-run shot capping the big rally. It was the 31-year-old slugger’s longest home run of the year and extended his team-leading total.
“That one felt good. That one felt really good,” Alonso said. “I was just really happy I was able to come through right there, especially to cap off that big inning. That inning was the big blow from us.”
Alonso became the 10th player in O’s history (since 1954) to hit 15-plus homers over his first 70 games with the club, and the first since Trey Mancini hit 17 in a 70-game span across the ‘16 and ‘17 seasons.
Most home runs through first 70 games played for Orioles
1. 22 -- Nelson Cruz in 2014
2. 20 -- Mark Trumbo in 2016
3. 18 -- Frank Robinson in 1966
4. 17 -- Trey Mancini in 2016 and ‘17
T-5. 16 -- Jeff Manto in 1995
T-5. 16 -- Reggie Jackson in 1976
T-7. 15 -- Pete Alonso in 2026
T-7. 15 -- Pedro Alvarez in 2016
T-7. 15 -- Jay Gibbons in 2001
T-7. 15 -- Albert Belle in 1999
The first-pitch temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit was the highest of the season thus far at Camden Yards, as it was an unseasonably warm evening at the ballpark. When the weather heats up here, the ball tends to carry more, and that was certainly the case in this one.
The game opened with Cole Young’s leadoff home run off Kyle Bradish. But the Orioles knotted the contest at 1 when Colton Cowser began the bottom of the third with a homer off Bryan Woo.
Cowser’s opposite-field shot to left-center got Baltimore going. After the O’s took a 2-1 lead when Jackson Holliday scored on a one-out wild pitch, Adley Rutschman pushed their advantage to 4-1 with a two-run double. On Woo’s next pitch -- a sweeper left over the heart of the zone -- Alonso made it 6-1 with his 110.6 mph blast.
“I wasn't sure where that was going to land,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He has real pop. When he gets it, he gets it, and it was a great swing, especially being ready for the first pitch.”
“From the angle I was at at second, it was like, ‘No-doubter,” Rutschman added.
The six-run frame matched the Orioles’ season high. They had equally large rallies on April 17 (the eighth inning of a 6-4 win in Cleveland), April 22 (the sixth inning of an 8-6 win in Kansas City) and June 4 (the first inning of an 8-2 win in Boston).
“We're able to manage ABs and get our good swings off and try and make stuff happen,” said Rutschman, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and reached base three times after missing the previous three games due to left hamstring tightness. “Pete and Cows with two really big swings there were huge for us, and just kind of tacking on a couple there at the end, just to get a little bit of insurance, was big.
“I think when our lineup’s going well, that's what we're capable of.”
Seattle kept things interesting with a four-run rally in the fourth that featured back-to-back home runs -- a two-run blast by Luke Raley, then a homer from Dominic Canzone. But Baltimore never lost its lead, with Rutschman adding an RBI single in the fifth.
Bradish went only four innings -- allowing five earned runs on three walks and seven hits, including three homers -- but he was picked up by Baltimore’s bullpen. Tyler Wells (three innings), Rico Garcia (two-thirds), Grant Wolfram (one-third) and Andrew Kittredge (one) combined for five scoreless frames, with Wells earning the win and Kittredge earning his first save of the season.
The Orioles (33-37) split the four-game set vs. the Mariners. They had lost four straight before taking the final two contests of the series.
Although the O’s haven’t been .500 since April 30 (when they were 15-15), they’re still only two games out of a playoff position in the wide-open American League Wild Card race. They also continue to play better of late, having either won or split five of their past six series and going 12-8 over that span.
“Really like the way that we’ve been playing,” Alonso said. “I feel like we’ve been playing really, really good baseball this series, and yeah, if we can kind of carry up this form, it’ll be really good for us.”