Mets Eliminated From Playoffs as Pete Alonso Hits 300th Homer to Sink Former Team

Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field turned into a nightmare for the team he used to call home. The former Mets slugger launched his 300th career home run in the ninth inning Tuesday night to tie the game, and Baltimore closed it out with an inside-the-park homer in the 11th, sealing a 7-5 win that pushed New York’s losing streak to three straight. The result also comes days after the Mets were officially eliminated from postseason contention, turning what was billed as an emotional homecoming into a symbol of just how far the season has fallen apart.

Alonso spent seven seasons in Queens, hitting a franchise-record 264 home runs and becoming one of the most popular players in team history before signing a five-year deal with the Orioles last December. His first game back at Citi Field on Monday drew a standing ovation despite an 0-for-3 night, and by Tuesday the reception had shifted from nostalgia to a reminder of what New York gave up. Alonso now leads the American League with 100 RBIs and remains on pace to play all 162 games for the third straight season, numbers the Mets lineup has badly missed in a lost year.

Elimination Number Confirms a Lost Season

New York’s loss on Monday didn’t just extend the skid, it mathematically ended any hope of an October run and guaranteed the Mets their first losing season in years. At 69-82 and sitting 13 games back in the National League Wild Card race, the Mets are mired in fifth place in the NL East, a half-game behind the last-place Washington Nationals. It’s a stunning outcome for a roster built with a record-setting $358.4 million Opening Day payroll, one of the highest in MLB history. The club never recovered from a brutal 12-game losing streak that ran from April 8-21, and injuries compounded the damage all year, only three players from the Opening Day starting lineup, Bo Bichette, Brett Baty and Carson Benge, managed to avoid the injured list.

Tuesday’s extra-innings collapse encapsulated the frustration. A.J. Ewing had provided a spark with a home run in Monday’s loss, and the Mets built a lead again Tuesday before Alonso’s milestone blast tied it in the ninth. Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson also went deep for Baltimore, and Coby Mayo’s inside-the-park home run in the 11th put the finishing touches on New York’s third consecutive defeat. For a fan base already bracing for a disappointing finish, watching a former franchise cornerstone deliver the decisive blow only sharpened the sting.

What’s Left to Play For

With October officially off the table, the final stretch of the season is about evaluation rather than contention. New York closes out this series against Baltimore, which is fighting for its own postseason life, the Orioles sit three games behind Cleveland for the final American League Wild Card spot, giving Alonso and company real incentive down the stretch even as the Mets play out the string. Bettors weighing the rest of this series and other late-September matchups can check the latest lines through BI’s DraftKings Sportsbook review before placing anything.

For New York, the offseason questions start now: how to retool a roster that underperformed its payroll, how to address a rotation and lineup ravaged by injuries, and how to rebuild trust with a fan base that watched a former face of the franchise take center stage in enemy colors. The Mets still have games left to play, but the storyline for the rest of 2026 has already shifted from wild-card math to next year’s roadmap.