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Pete Alonso (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
QUEENS — Pete Alonso scorched his 40th home run of the season in the third inning of Sunday’s matinee against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby to continue smashing the New York Mets’ franchise record book while joining exclusive company within the annals of Major League Baseball.
Coming on a 1-2 curveball, Alonso went down and lasered Kirby’s offering 385 feet, which left the bat at 115.1 mph at an 18-degree launch angle to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
🐻❄️💥 pic.twitter.com/gndsdvOBbv
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 3, 2023
It clinched his third-career 40-home-run season, which further extends his Mets franchise record for most 40-homer campaigns. Before Alonso’s arrival in 2019 when he set an MLB rookie record with 53 round-trippers, the Mets had just three players post one season of 40-plus home runs (Todd Hundley with 41 in 1996, Mike Piazza with 40 in 1999, Carlos Beltran with 41 in 2006).
Alonso followed it up with 40 home runs in 2022 and is likely to exceed that number by a sizable margin this year.
He also became just the fifth player in MLB history to record three or more 40-home-run seasons in his first five years, joining Ryan Howard, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, and Albert Pujols. His 186 home runs since his debut ranks most in the majors since 2019.
For more on Pete Alonso and the Mets, visit AMNY.com
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