The Buzz — Tuesday, September 15

Pete Alonso

The take Alonso's ovation-filled Citi return near 300th HR

He played 1,008 games for the Mets. He came back in an Orioles uniform and got standing ovations before each of his four plate appearances and a nearly two-minute tribute video. The same fans who chanted his name also started chanting 'Fire Stearns' after his first flyout — and that chant is the real story.

Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore after the Mets let him leave as a free agent following the 2025 season. He stayed diplomatic: 'I respect their decision... it's their prerogative to do whatever they think is best,' he said. The fans were not diplomatic.

In the third inning he hooked a ball foul into the upper deck in left — a potential 300th career home run that would have landed in the seats he used to call his own. He finished 0-for-3 with a walk, the Orioles won 2-1, and the loss eliminated the Mets from the postseason. He is hitting .269 with 35 home runs, an AL-leading 100 RBIs and an .863 OPS across 150 games. The ovation was real. So was the anger underneath it.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong

The take PCA 42nd HR four-hit night fuels MVP buzz

The number that ends the argument is 10.1 — his FanGraphs WAR, leading MLB, with Shohei Ohtani next at 6.8 and on the injured list. ESPN has stopped taking action on the NL MVP. That gap is not a race; it is a verdict the market has already rendered.

His 42nd home run tied Billy Williams for the most by a left-handed batter in a single season in Cubs history, a mark Williams set with 42 in 1970. He finished with four hits and four RBIs, reached 100 RBIs on a two-run double, and stole his 37th base. The season line reads .281 with 42 home runs, 102 RBIs, 37 stolen bases and a .945 OPS. The MVP is settled. What is left is whether he keeps producing into October.

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Corbin Carroll

The take Carroll walk-off HR keeps D-backs in wild-card race

The walk-off was real and the standings needed it — Arizona stayed 2 1/2 games behind San Diego with 11 to play. But Carroll is hitting .214 since the All-Star break, and one two-run shot does not rewrite a second half that dragged his average to .240. The Diamondbacks' 45th comeback win is who they have been all year. He delivered in the moment. The moment has not fixed the months around it.

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Aaron Judge

The take Judge first HR since IL return as Yankees clinch playoffs

Aaron Judge hit his first home run since May 24 — a three-run shot off a 2-2 cutter from A.J. Minter that Statcast measured at 36 degrees and 397 feet into the second deck at Target Field. It was his 18th of the season and it broke open a six-run eighth inning in an 8-3 win. The Yankees clinched a postseason berth — their 61st overall and ninth in 10 years — that same inning, when the Blue Jays lost to Detroit 6-5.

The swing was vintage Judge. He missed 84 games with a right rib stress fracture, returned September 8, and was 3-for-20 with 11 strikeouts before this one. One ball into the second deck is a start. Whether it becomes a turnaround or stays a single swing is what the coming weeks will show.

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Fernando Tatis Jr.

The take Tatis homer fuels Padres 8-game streak WC push

The Padres won their eighth straight, matching their longest streak of the season, and the 449-foot two-run shot from Tatis in the second inning built the lead in an 8-7 win. San Diego is 82-68, 2 1/2 games ahead of Arizona for the final NL wild-card, with a fifth straight winning season clinched. Tatis is hitting .500 over his last seven games with two home runs; his season line sits at .290 with 22 home runs, 77 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. The streak is real production — a team getting its best player hot as the schedule shortens.

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