Mets Morning News: Mets fans still love Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso received a resoundingly warm welcome from the Citi Field crowd last night, and despite a good start by Jonah Tong, Alonso’s Orioles beat the Mets by a 2-1 score. Alonso and Francisco Lindor each hit very long foul balls that would’ve given them their 300th career home runs if they’d kept them fair, but both players are still sitting on 299 heading into the second game of the series.

Mets fans cheered Alonso loudly and chanted his name throughout the night, and he appreciated it.

Abbey Mastracco caught up with Alonso before the series got underway and wrote afterwards that the emotional night showed that the Mets made the wrong move in letting him go.

Tim Britton writes that Alonso’s return put the spotlight on David Stearns, as Alonso’s departure from the Mets has thus far been the defining decision of Stearns’ tenure.

Mets fans chanted “fire Stearns” a few times during the game.

Here’s a video of the Mets’ tribute video to Alonso that played before first pitch.

Devin Williams threw off a mound and will face live hitters on Thursday, and he doesn’t anticipate needing a rehab assignment before returning in the near future.

The Guardians lost to the White Sox, having entered the night with a chance to overtake their rivals for first place in the American League Central. Now they’re 1.5 games back heading into the second game of that series.

In a back-and-forth affair, the Blue Jays suffered a loss to the Tigers, a massive missed opportunity that leaves them one game behind the Guardians for the final American League Wild Card spot.

The Padres managed to beat the Rockies by an 8-7 score, giving them an important win as they try to keep hold of the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

The Diamondbacks, the only NL team with a realistic shot of overtaking the Padres, also won by an 8-7 score as they defeated the Marlins.

The Mariners’ underwhelming season continued with a loss to the rival Angels.

The latest MLB.com power rankings have the three National League teams jockeying for a bye at the top.

As for the rest of the playoff contenders, here’s a breakdown of those races. And here’s what MLB executives think of the biggest playoff threats.

Ichiro Suzuki played against the best high school girls baseball players in Japan, threw 127 pitches, notched 17 strikeouts, and threw a complete game shutout.

Allison McCague reviewed the recent performance of Mets position players.

Cleon Jones made his major league debut on this date in 1963.