New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso became the first National League rookie to hit 40 homers in a season when he went deep during Sunday’s 11-5 victory over the host Kansas City Royals.
Alonso’s ninth-inning blast to left field broke a tie with Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bellinger set the mark with 39 in 2017.
“It’s crazy,” Alonso told reporters after the victory. “I just gotta go back to the days of spring training when I didn’t know if I was gonna make the team out of camp or not. I’m just extremely thankful for this opportunity, and this has been such an incredible year. I just wanna keep building and help this team win.”
Alonso is the first Mets’ player to reach 40 homers since Carlos Beltran belted 41 in 2006. Beltran and Todd Hundley (1996) share the franchise record. Alonso went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs in Sunday’s win. The All-Star is batting .271 with 95 RBIs.
–The Washington Nationals have set Thursday as the probable return for Max Scherzer.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has been on the 10-day injured list since July 29, and he has made only one start since July 6 because of upper-back injuries.
“Honestly, the toughest part about this whole thing is I feel like the carrot’s right in front of my face,” Scherzer said on MLB.com. “That it’s such (a) day-to-day (thing), that any day it could turn. You always wake up every single day thinking today’s the day that you’re going to wake up and not feel anything, and you’re going to go out there and you’re going to throw it and you’re going to feel no pain whatsoever.”
–Colorado Rockies closer Scott Oberg was placed on the 10-day injured list after undergoing a procedure Saturday to dissolve a blood clot in his pitching arm.
The right-hander remained hospitalized Sunday morning, manager Bud Black told reporters. “His arm felt heavy; it just didn’t feel normal, so it was alarming,” he said on MLB.com.
Oberg, 29, had similar issues in 2016, when he underwent two surgeries for axillary artery thrombosis (blood clots) in his right arm and shoulder. He didn’t pitch again that season after a mid-August diagnosis.
–The Houston Astros placed infielder Aledmys Diaz on the 10-day injured list after he suffered dizziness on Saturday that led to an overnight stay in the hospital.
The 29-year-old Diaz was dizzy and light-headed on the team bus prior to Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, leading to the hospitalization.
“We’re going to take every precaution imaginable to make sure he’s OK,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch told reporters before Sunday’s series finale in Oakland. “He should travel back with us (Sunday night) and be back in Houston with our doctors. With the roster the way it was, we needed to make a decision.”
–Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale, on the injured list with elbow inflammation, will meet with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday.
Sale and Brad Pearson, the team’s head trainer, will visit with Andrews in Gulf Breeze, Fla., for an examination of the pitcher’s left elbow.
Manager Alex Cora said that Sale didn’t have visits scheduled with any other doctors, and he added that Sale wanted to know more about his diagnosis before talking to the media.
–The Nationals put closer Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list because of tendinitis in his right knee.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled right-hander Kyle McGowin from Double-A Harrisburg.
Doolittle has struggled in the past two weeks, seeing his ERA rise from 2.81 on Aug. 6 to 4.33. On Saturday, he blew his sixth save of the season when he gave up four runs on four hits — including three home runs — to the Milwaukee Brewers in just one-third of an inning. He surrendered four runs to the New York Mets on Aug. 9 in two-thirds of an inning, and for the month, he has an ERA of 12.86.
–The Cincinnati Reds placed first baseman Joey Votto on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain.
The move is retroactive to Thursday.
Votto, who last played on Wednesday, is hitting .262 with 12 home runs, 60 runs and 39 RBIs in his 13th season.
–Field Level Media
