New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso hit his 27th home run of the season on Sunday to set the franchise rookie homer record.
Alonso’s homer in the top of the fourth inning off the Chicago Cubs‘ Cole Hamels traveled 454 feet to center field. The home run is tied for his second longest this season.
Darryl Strawberry had held the Mets’ record for home runs by a rookie when he hit 26 in 1983.
“Congrats to Pete for breaking my record which has stood for a long time. What he’s done in a short period of time is most impressive. No goal seems out of reach. I wish Pete and (the) Mets all the best the rest of year,” Strawberry said in a statement released by the Mets.
Alonso’s record-setting home run had an exit velocity of exactly 110.0 mph, his 11th homer of the season with a 110-plus mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. That’s one shy of the New York Yankees‘ Gary Sanchez who leads baseball with 12 home runs of that variety this season.
He had set the National League mark for home runs before the All-Star break with his 26th home run on Saturday. Mark McGwire holds the major league record for homers before the All-Star break with 33 for the Oakland Athletics in 1987.
Alonso’s 27 home runs are tied with Dave Kingman (1976) for most in Mets history before July 1.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.