Pete Alonso made waves on Tuesday in his second game back in Citi Field after his departure from the New York Mets this past offseason. Alonso, now with the Baltimore Orioles, hit hit 36th home run of the season on Tuesday to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning, and it just so happened that this long ball was the 300th of his career.

This understandably got Mets a bit emotional, as they did not want the team to let Alonso go in free agency. Instead, they have to watch him continue to hit home runs and suit up in nearly every game with the Orioles, the team that splashed $155 million to acquire his services for five seasons.

As much of a feat it is for Alonso to reach the 300-home run mark for his career, what matters the most to him is that the Orioles earned a 7-5 win in extra innings — a victory that was only made possible by the game-tying home run he hit earlier in the contest.

“I'm more stoked that we won the game. We're in a tight Wild Card race right here. With not a lot of games to go, there's a lot of tight margins. Getting that game back right there, getting us back in it. We're playing for October right now,” Alonso said in his postgame interview, via MASN.

Pete Alonso is "more stoked" about an extra-innings O's win than his 300th homer.

The epic slugger on an amazing night. pic.twitter.com/jJlN0zil3r

— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) September 16, 2026

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Indeed, with that win, the Orioles at least kept in step in the Wild Card race. They improved to 74-78 with that latest victory, although they still need a borderline miracle just to make it to the postseason.

They are currently sitting three games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Wild Card standings, and with 10 games to go, mounting a comeback isn't impossible. But there are three teams ahead of them in the Wild Card race (Guardians, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays, in that order), making the road ahead very difficult.

Nonetheless, all the Orioles can do is take care of business, and that's exactly what they did, thanks to Alonso.