First baseman Pete Alonso has blown past his slow start with the Orioles to begin trending in his usual statistical manner.

Actually, he’s bashing it into submission.

Alonso homered in three of four games before yesterday, which is typical for a player who amassed 280 in parts of eight major league seasons. He’s never finished with fewer than 34 over a full season.

The difference in 2026 is that Alonso has launched nine of his team-leading homers to the opposite field, leaving him only one short of his career high set last season with the Mets, per Statcast data.

Alonso almost reached the second deck with a 439-foot shot to left field on Thursday. His homer the previous night traveled to right-center, and he deposited a ball in the seats next to the out-of-town scoreboard in Saturday’s loss.

“Certainly with the way our ballpark is configured, that’s something that the front office was aware of when we were looking at him in free agency,” said first-year hitting coach Dustin Lind. “It’s something that I saw a lot when I was on the other side in Philadelphia. So it’s in there and obviously with the way that the ballpark is put together here, it’s really conducive to him hitting oppo home runs, which is really cool to see.”

The Orioles finished their homestand yesterday with Alonso leading the club with a .473 slugging percentage and .808 OPS. His .335 on-base percentage was second behind Taylor Ward’s .404 among qualified hitters.

Ward said he isn’t surprised by anything Alonso does, and that includes power in every direction.

“I just think his track record shows how he drives the ball all over the ballpark, and just watching it first-hand’s really cool,” Ward said. “I think oppo homers on a line are way more impressive than pull-side homers, so it’s been really cool to watch.”

Alonso recorded his 39th career game Saturday with at least one double and home run and his second this season. Since his 2019 debut, the only other players with more of those games were the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and Guardians’ José Ramírez with 43, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge with 41 and the Giants’ Rafael Devers with 40.

Alonso’s outbursts were anticipated because of his track record. Blaze Alexander was acquired in a February trade to provide the club with a versatile utility player who hit .237 with a .688 OPS in 135 games with the Diamondbacks.

Alexander earned another start yesterday, this time at third base, while staying at the bottom of the order. He singled and doubled to leave his average at .303 with a .355 on-base percentage and .776 OPS in 61 games.

He’s hit .410 since May 3.

“I think the way that Blaze has just been able to hit line drive after line drive has been really, really impressive, especially given some of the more significant swing adjustments that he made over the course of the offseason and how much work he put into that during spring training,” Lind said.

“To see that kind of come out on the field has been really, really exciting for obviously him but also the coaching staff, as well.”

A tweak also was made during the season, after a conversation with assistant hitting coach Brady North. Alexander applied more forward pressure to his leg, eliminated the lift.

Alexander batted .177/.250/.210 in his first 25 games through April, and .365/.403/.508 in 25 games in May. He had three more hits Saturday and was 10-for-23 with three doubles and a homer this month heading into yesterday.  

“I think it was getting more comfortable with the things that he was working on,” Lind said. “Brady and him had a great session in New York at the start of May, where they just kind of adjusted the way that his weight was distributed during his gather, and he’s really taken off after that. And so his ability to put the ball forward has really improved as a result and obviously the line drives have been really cool to see, as well.”

Jackson Holliday is playing second base and catch-up after breaking his right hamate bone in February.

Holliday didn’t appear in his first game this season until May 19 after a couple of rehab setbacks, and he’s been a regular presence in the lineup until Jeremiah Jackson finally resurfaced yesterday.

The former No. 1 draft pick and prospect in baseball hit his third career grand slam Wednesday but is 6-for-38 this month with a double, triple and homer.

“I’ve really enjoyed his at-bat quality,” Lind said. “He’s come out, he’s done a really nice job jumping on a moving train. This homestand in particular he’s gotten really unlucky. He’s hitting some bullets and people are just able to get their gloves on them. He’s done a great job.

“We’re really pleased with the at-bat quality and the trend line with him is obviously very position. We’re really excited.”