Pete Alonso hits 252nd home run to match Darryl Strawberry for Mets record

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pete Alonso hit his 252nd career home run Saturday night, tying the New York Mets record held by Darryl Strawberry for 37 years.

Alonso connected against Milwaukee Brewers starter Tobias Myers leading off the second inning for his 26th homer this season, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. The 413-foot shot to left-center came on a 1-2 fastball at the top of the strike zone.

It was Alonso’s fourth homer in eight games, since he went deep Aug. 1 against San Francisco to end an 0-for-19 slump.

“It means a lot. A mark that’s not easy to get,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said following his team's 7-4 loss. “How many great players have put on this uniform? For Pete to be able to tie it, it’s something special for him and for all of us. We’re proud of him.”

Alonso was not available to speak with reporters after the game because of a personal situation, a Mets spokesman said.

The record-tying drive came in the same ballpark where Alonso launched the biggest home run of his career last October — although that one didn’t count toward his regular-season total. The slugger’s go-ahead, three-run shot in the ninth inning off All-Star closer Devin Williams saved New York’s season and rallied the Mets to a 4-2 victory over the Brewers in the decisive Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series.

A homegrown star drafted by the Mets in 2016, Alonso broke into the big leagues with a bang in 2019, hitting 53 home runs to set a major league rookie record and establish a franchise high for a single season.

The five-time All-Star, nicknamed The Polar Bear, has reached 40 two other times and been one of the most consistent sluggers in baseball since his arrival. After a protracted negotiation, he returned to the Mets as a free agent in February on a $54 million, two-year contract that includes a $24 million player option for 2026, which Alonso will likely decline.

The only other active players who lead their current franchise in home runs are Manny Machado (Padres) and Mike Trout (Angels).

Giancarlo Stanton, now with the New York Yankees, holds the Miami mark with 267 for the Marlins.

Strawberry broke the previous Mets record with his 155th home run on May 3, 1988, passing Dave Kingman. The sweet-swinging outfielder hit 252 in 1,109 games for New York during his first eight major league seasons from 1983-90. He later played for the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees, finishing his 17-year career with 335 homers.

The 30-year-old Alonso played his 963rd game Saturday night. The durable first baseman has appeared in 370 straight, a team record.

The Diamondbacks and Padres are the lone major league clubs that haven’t had a player hit more than 252 homers for them. Luis Gonzalez holds the Arizona record with 224, and Machado entered Saturday with 187 for San Diego.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Pete Alonso rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso hits a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso (20) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso (20) is congratulated by manager Carlos Mendoza (64) after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso gestures as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso hits a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Cumberland, Md. (AP) — Three members of the Zizians, a cultlike group linked to six deaths across the U.S., were granted permission Friday to work together in preparation for their upcoming trial on trespassing, weapons and drug charges.

Jack LaSota, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank are among a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists drawn together by radical beliefs about veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence.

Authorities have described LaSota, a transgender woman known as Ziz, as the apparent leader of the “extremist group." Since 2022, Zizians have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the deaths of Zajko’s parents in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left another member and a U.S. Border Patrol agent dead.

LaSota, Zajko and Blank were arrested in February after a property owner said he found them living in box trucks on his land in Frostburg, Maryland. Zajko was charged in Vermont with lying on her application to buy the gun used to kill agent David Maland in January 2025, while LaSota faces separate federal charges of being an armed fugitive.

On her way into the courthouse Friday, LaSota accused prosecutors of pressuring the trio to commit perjury by accepting plea deals and said, “They're violating our speedy trial rights.” Friday's hearing was supposed to include discussions of the trio's motions to dismiss the charges and logistics of the trial that begins Feb. 9. Much of the agenda was postponed until Jan. 30 after Zajko indicated a desire to fire her attorney.

Earlier, Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Michael Twigg agreed to allow the trio to work together on their defense. Since their arrest, LaSota and Blank have been allowed to meet, but Zajko was kept apart in what she described as “absurdly difficult circumstances.”

When the prosecutor told the judge he had reason to believe the three had already been communicating amongst themselves, LaSota interjected, “In the car ride here!”

“We should be able to talk to each other without being recorded and without fear of our notes being intercepted," LaSota said.

“We're adults. We have work to do, and we want to do our work," Zajko said.

At one point, all three spoke up in support of each other.

“I repudiate any notion of protecting me from our codefendants,” LaSota said.

“I do, too,” said Zajko.

“As do I,” Blank said.

In the Vermont case, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Zizians member Teresa Youngblut, who has pleaded not guilty to murder for her alleged involvement in the shootout. Though she initially faced lesser charges, President Donald Trump's administration had signaled early on that more serious charges were coming as part of its push for more federal executions.

At the time of the shooting, authorities had been watching Youngblut and her companion, Felix Bauckholt, for several days after a Vermont hotel employee reported seeing them carrying guns and wearing black tactical gear. She is accused of opening fire on border agents who pulled the car over on Interstate 91. An agent fired back, killing Bauckholt and wounding Youngblut.

Two other members of the Zizians group are awaiting trial in connection with the 2022 attack on a landlord in California that left another member dead. Zajko has been called a person of interest in the deaths of her parents later that year, and another member of the group is charged with killing the landlord three days before the Vermont shooting.

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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

In this image from video, Michelle Zajko, who is associated with a cultlike group known as Zizians that is linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Daniel Blank, who is associated with a cultlike group known as Zizians that is linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Jack LaSota, also known as Ziz, who is at the center of a cultlike group known as Zizians and linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Jack LaSota, also known as Ziz, who is at the center of a cultlike group known as Zizians and linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)