BALTIMORE -- After being named the unanimous winner of the 2026 Most Valuable Oriole Award on Wednesday morning, Pete Alonso took the field at Camden Yards and continued what is shaping up to be an incredible finish to his first year in Baltimore.
Alonso belted his 41st home run of the season to lift the Orioles to a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of a split doubleheader. It marked the Polar Bear’s third homer over the first two games of the American League East rivalry series, as he previously swatted a pair in Monday night’s 4-3 comeback win.
The O’s then recorded another 4-2 win in the nightcap of the twin bill -- with Christian Encarnacion-Strand homering and driving in three runs -- to stay alive in the AL Wild Card race for at least one more day.
The Orioles (78-81) are 3 1/2 games behind the White Sox (81-77) for the third AL Wild Card spot and also trail the Rangers (78-80). Baltimore must sweep its final three-game series at Yankee Stadium, have Chicago finish 0-4 and avoid tiebreakers involving Texas.
“Having to watch other games and having your destiny in other peoples’ hands, that sucks,” Alonso said. “Obviously, we’re still not eliminated, which is great. For us to come out, sweep the doubleheader, that’s big time.”
Although Baltimore may not end up in the playoffs, it continues to feel great about what Alonso has brought to the club -- and what the 31-year-old slugger should bring throughout the remainder of the five-year, $155 million contract he signed this past December.
Alonso is one of only eight players to hit 41 or more homers in a season in O’s history (since 1954), posting the ninth such campaign overall. His AL-high 110 RBIs are the most by a Baltimore player since Chris Davis had 117 in 2015.
The only AL players with as many homers as Alonso this season are Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, who each entered Wednesday with 41.
With nine home runs over his past 18 games (and 18 homers in 41 games since Aug. 9), Alonso is continuing to climb the Orioles’ all-time single-season home run leaderboard. Next on the list is Rafael Palmeiro, who hit 43 in 1998.
Alonso, who has started every game this season, has three more games to add to his homer total.
Despite the large contract and even larger expectations, Alonso said he hasn’t felt any added pressure to perform in 2026.
“It’s not trying to be anything different or anything more or less than who I am and what I can bring on a day-to-day basis,” Alonso said. “There’s a lot of comfort and peace of mind in that, where it’s like, ‘Hey, we believe in you, not just from a player’s side, but what you bring as a personality and teammate.’ For me, that speaks volumes.
“For me, it’s just justification. It’s like, ‘Hey, who you are, we need that, and we appreciate what you do.’ And they’re just like, ‘Go be yourself.’ What that entails is just being the best you can on the field between the lines and the best teammate you can be every single day. I really appreciate the runway, obviously.”
All season, Alonso’s leadership has drawn as much praise as his on-field performance.
“The biggest thing that stands out with Pete is, yeah, he’s going out there and competing, he wants to go out there and produce for the team, but he also wants everyone around him to do the same thing,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He wants to help. He wants to pull everyone in the right direction, for the team and to win games.”
Alonso’s two-run blast in the fifth inning in Wednesday’s opener was his first off veteran right-hander Max Scherzer, his Mets teammate during the 2022 and ‘23 seasons. Alonso was previously 4-for-25 (.160) with two doubles, one walk and 12 strikeouts lifetime vs. Scherzer.
Right-hander Chris Bassitt turned in another solid outing in Game 1, allowing two earned runs over five-plus innings. Although the 37-year-old had a 4.59 ERA in 20 games (18 starts), he recorded a 3.74 ERA over his final eight outings after returning from a back injury in mid-August.
Right-hander Trey Gibson (Baltimore’s No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline) tossed a career-high 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a spot start in Game 2.
Bassitt, who was also teammates with Alonso in New York in 2022, hasn’t been surprised at all by Alonso’s performance this season.
“Pete deserves MVP votes, and he deserves them every single year. That’s just the reality. He’s one of the most underappreciated players in our game. He’s easily a top three hitter every single year,” Bassitt said. “He’s not having a crazy historical year for his standards. It’s just Pete being Pete, and people are like, ‘Dang, this is really, really special.’ But he’s been doing that for years.
“Pete just held the standard of what he’s done for years, and I think people are now realizing, ‘Holy [crap], this guy’s really good.’ But he’s always been really, really good. So yeah, it’s Pete being Pete.”