Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3: Alonso's 40th Wins It in the Eighth

The song, then the 40th

September 21, 2026 - Baltimore - Camden Yards played Earth, Wind & Fire every time Pete Alonso walked up. "Do you remember, the 21st night of September?" The MLB recap said that was for his son Teddy, who turned one on Monday. Alonso remembered the date. Then he gave the Baltimore Orioles a reason to keep it.

He homered in the first. He homered again in the eighth, a two-run fly to left with two outs, and Baltimore beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3. The first one was his 39th. The second was his 40th. The Orioles had trailed 3-0 before he even sat down after the first inning.

Overcast. 65 degrees. Wind 3 mph in from right. First pitch 6:35 p.m. Attendance 12,067. The game lasted 2 hours, 30 minutes. Each club had six hits. Baltimore hit three homers. Toronto hit none.

"That was for him," Alonso said of the song, per the MLB recap. "That's his birthday song." On the second homer: "It's obviously special. Hopefully, we can bookmark this game. I know it doesn't matter now, because he's not going to understand it for a couple years. But hopefully, a couple years down the line, I can kind of look back and just kind of bookmark this and keep it for the archives, and then hopefully, he appreciates it one day."

Three in the first, then a long wait

Toronto scored before Baltimore threw a pitch that mattered. Brett Bateman walked. Alejandro Kirk walked. Nathan Lukes lined a single to left, Bateman scoring. 1-0. George Springer lined another single to left, Kirk scoring, Lukes to third. 2-0. Sean Keys lifted a sacrifice fly to right. Lukes scored. 3-0. Three runs, two singles, one fly, and Shane Baz had already given the night away if the rest of the lineup kept hitting.

It did not. Kazuma Okamoto singled later. Andrés Giménez singled. Springer finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. That was Toronto's offense after the first: three more hits and four left on. Josh Smith went 0-for-4. Ernie Clement went 0-for-3. The Blue Jays put the game in Alonso's hands by stopping.

Alonso answered in the bottom of the first. Solo shot the other way, to the right-field flag court. 3-1. The MLB recap called it an opposite-field fly. It did not tie the game. It told you who was going to try.

Trey Yesavage started for Toronto and lasted two innings: one hit, one run, three strikeouts, 40 pitches. Alonso's first homer was the hit. Brendan Cellucci struck out three in 1 1/3. Chad Dallas took 2 2/3 and allowed Henderson's homer. José Rodríguez threw a scoreless sixth. Toronto's bullpen held a 3-1 lead into the eighth. The eighth is where the song paid off.

Henderson cuts it, Alonso finishes it

Gunnar Henderson went 3-for-4. In the sixth he hit his 24th, a fly to right. 3-2. He also tripled. One RBI on the homer, and the rest of the night was just him reaching. Coby Mayo went 0-for-4. Dylan Beavers went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Most of the Baltimore order did not help. Henderson and Alonso did enough.

The eighth started with Christian Franklin walking. Mason Fluharty had already put the runner on (hold No. 19) when Toronto handed the ball to Tyler Rogers. Two outs. Alonso up. The MLB recap said Rogers came in specifically to face him. The count went to 1-1. Rogers left a sinker over the heart of the plate. Alonso hit it a Statcast-projected 400 feet over the left-field wall. Franklin scored. 4-3. Rogers took the loss (2-3) and the blown save (his fourth). Two hits, one run, 11 pitches.

The MLB recap listed Alonso as tied for ninth in Orioles history (since 1954) with 40 homers in a season, even with Nelson Cruz in 2014. Chris Davis still sits first with 53 in 2013. Alonso also pushed his American League-leading RBI total to 108. No other AL hitter has more than 99, the recap said. This is his first year in the American League after 53 homers in his first National League season. The recap said he is the only player to hit 40-plus in his first season in each league. It is the fourth 40-homer year of his eight-year career.

"His baseball card, his accolades, the track record is there," manager Craig Albernaz said, per the MLB recap. "Hitting 40 home runs and having over 100 RBIs in this league is really impressive, and the consistency with which he does it, that doesn't happen by accident. It's just all the work he puts in behind the scenes."

Baz, who lasted 6 2/3: five hits, three earned, three walks, two strikeouts, 92 pitches. "It's ridiculous," he said of Alonso. "He's just one of the most consistent players I've ever seen, and I feel like that's kind of the name of the game in the big leagues, is just being as consistent as possible."

Five games left, still peeking

Yennier Cano (4-3) got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless, one hit, one strikeout. Rico Garcia threw a 1-2-3 ninth, two strikeouts, 17 pitches, for his 10th save. Baltimore struck out 10 and walked two. Toronto struck out five and walked three.

The Orioles are 76-81. The Blue Jays are 77-80. The MLB recap put Baltimore 4 1/2 games behind the White Sox (80-76) for the third American League Wild Card, with Houston (77-79) and Toronto still in front of them. Five games remain. An improbable run is still a run Alonso refuses to talk around.

"I really love playing the game, and for me, I just want to be all I can be and do whatever I can every single night to win the game," he said. "I know where we're at with the standings, but couldn't be more proud to be an Oriole."

He also talked about the slow start: three homers in his first 28 games, new city, new routine with a newborn. "It's like, 'How do we get this down?' Being husband, being dad, and then also being ready to my maximum capabilities by first pitch," he said. "Just a couple routine tweaks, and I feel like as the season has gone on, I feel like I've just been able to kind of refine that and get more and more in tune and in rhythm."

Monday was the rhythm. A 3-0 hole in the first. A solo shot that kept the night alive. Henderson's 24th. Then a sinker Alonso did not miss, on a date the park had already decided to sing.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Baltimore at 8 team fantasy points, third on a three-game Monday. Alonso had 12 hitting FP. Henderson had 10. Garcia had 10 pitching FP. Baz had 8.66. Toronto finished at 1 team FP.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*