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SEATTLE — Pete Alonso could not quite swing hard enough to take down a city and a hometown hero.
The Mets slugger, the least-popular man in Seattle as he faced off against a Mariners star, became a victim of the Julio Rodriguez show in Monday’s Home Run Derby.
Rodriguez won the faceoff, pummeling 41 home runs — the most in a single round in the event’s history — to knock Alonso from the competition for a second straight year.
“Unfortunately ran into a buzz saw,” said Alonso, who was bounced last year by Rodriguez in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium and this year in the first round at T-Mobile Park. “He had a ridiculously historic round. That was incredible to watch. Good for him and good for Seattle. It’s awesome.”
Alonso, the two-time Home Run Derby champion, finished with 21 home runs and put on an impressive display himself.
His deepest dinger went 457 feet, but he was matched up against the crowd favorite, who heard loud “Julio!” chants and rode the energy in the ballpark into history.
“I wanted to live in the moment and kind of put on a show for Mariners fans,” said Rodriguez, who couldn’t keep the show going.
Gassed — “Your mind is there, but your body is not,” he said — Rodriguez then fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
But the round might be remembered more than the winner.
“I don’t think you’re going to see that number for a really long time,” Alonso said. “I mean, 41. My heavens.”
Randy Arozarena — a showman who brought out his lucky cowboy boots that sat outside the batters’ box — came up two home runs shy of Guerrero in the final.
Luis Robert Jr. won the longest-drive competition with a 484-foot bomb.
Adley Rutschman fell in a 27-homer first round but entertained, the switch hitter beginning the round lefty and finishing his bonus time 7-for-8 as a righty.
On a fun night, perhaps not helping Alonso was a late pitching change.
Mike Friedlein, a childhood coach whom he once promised would serve as his Home Run Derby pitcher, developed a forearm issue, so Alonso called in Aaron Myers — a major league staff assistant for the Mets who often throws batting practice for the team — from the bullpen.
Alonso was pleased with his “solid” round, but he could not beat the best showing in the derby’s history.
“I had a blast,” said an upbeat Alonso, who still loves an event for which he seems built.
Alonso had stolen the spotlight in several other Home Run Derbies and won the 2019 competition in Cleveland and the 2021 version in Colorado, becoming one of only three back-to-back champs (with Ken Griffey Jr. and Yoenis Cespedes) in the event’s history.
While some others shy away from the derby, Alonso consistently returns and became the 10th player to participate at least four times.
“It’s super fun,” Alonso said. “It’s a really fun event.”
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