Pete Alonso ties Darryl Strawberry's Mets' all-time home run record of 252 in loss to Brewers
New York Mets' Pete Alonso gestures as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Aaron Gash
MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso tied Darryl Strawberry’s Mets all-time home run record with a second-inning solo shot on Saturday night at American Family Field.
Alonso’s majestic 252nd career home run went 413 feet to left-centerfield on a 1-and-2, 94-mph fastball from Brewers righthander Tobias Myers. It was Alonso’s 26th of this season.
Of less historical significance — but of major importance to the reeling 2025 Mets — was the team’s sixth straight defeat, a stunning 7-4 loss to the Brewers.
The lasting images of this game might not be Alonso’s post-homer dugout celebration with his proud teammates, but those of two Mets defensive miscues and Francisco Lindor taking his glove off and slamming it three times with his right hand on the dugout bench after a costly second-inning error.
“It sucks to lose,” a much calmer Lindor said. “Nobody wants to lose.”
The Mets’ souped-up bullpen blew a one-run lead in the Brewers’ four-run seventh inning, with the go-ahead run scoring on a misplay by third baseman Ronny Mauricio (a single that should have been scored an error on Mauricio, who replaced Mark Vientos for defense in the sixth).
“We continue to make mistakes,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re not playing good baseball. When you’re playing against teams like this and you’re giving extra outs, extra bases, they’re going to make you pay, and that happened today.”
How about extra outs because of a pitch-clock violation? That’s a new one.
After taking the lead, Milwaukee added two more runs on a home run one pitch after an out was erased by a violation against Ryan Helsley.
“I felt like if it could go wrong, it did go wrong,” said Helsley, who did not dispute that he was tardy.
The Mets entered the seventh with a 4-3 lead. The Brewers tied it against Ryne Stanek on Sal Frelick’s RBI grounder to short and went ahead 5-4 on Isaac Collins’ “single” off Mauricio’s glove with Helsley on the mound.
“It’s an in-between hop,” Mendoza said. “But he’s a really good defender. We’ve seen him make plays like that — tougher plays.”
Helsley appeared to get the final out of the inning on a liner to right by William Contreras, but the reliever was called for taking too long to deliver the pitch. Instead of an out, it was a ball. Contreras smacked the next offering 399 feet over the left-centerfield wall to make it 7-4.
The Brewers, who have the best record in baseball at 72-44, have won eight in a row.
The Mets, 45-24 entering the games of June 13, have gone 18-30 since then. They trail the NL East-leading Phillies by 4 1⁄2 games and hold a dwindling 2 1⁄2-game lead over the Reds for the final wild-card spot.
“Obviously, we’re not playing well,” Mendoza said. “But I continue to believe in these guys. We’ve got a lot of talent, and we’ll turn it around. I know I sound like a broken record, but I believe there’s too much talent in there.”
Alonso’s milestone blast came in the same ballpark in which he hit one of the biggest homers in Mets history. Last Oct. 3, he hit a go-ahead three-run home run to rightfield off Brewers closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning to help the Mets to a series-clinching 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series.
Strawberry has held the team record since he passed Dave Kingman with his 155th home run on May 3, 1988.
Alonso, who grounded out in his final three at-bats on Saturday, left the ballpark quickly after the final out to tend to what a team spokesman called a “family situation.” He did not speak to reporters.
Alonso’s homer gave the Mets a 1-0 lead, but it didn’t last long.
After opener Reed Garrett threw a perfect first inning with two strikeouts in his first career start, struggling Frankie Montas entered the game in the second. He was charged with two unearned runs on Joey Ortiz’s very slow high chopper up the middle with two outs and the bases loaded that eluded Lindor and bounded into centerfield. It was scored an error.
“It’s a routine ground ball,” Lindor said, even though the second hop was unusually high and it wasn’t clear if he could have gotten an out even if he had fielded the ball. “I should have made that play.”
Startling Marte tied the score at 2 with a homer in the third.
Cedric Mullins had a go-ahead single in the fourth as the Mets went ahead 3-2, but Montas allowed a tying home run to Brice Turang in the bottom half.
Juan Soto gave the Mets a 4-3 lead in the fifth with his 28th home run.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
