Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso tried to get a bit too clever for his own good during Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Tigers DH Dillon Dingler hit a weak flare to Alonso with a man on and nobody out in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md. Alonso could have caught the ball in the air fairly easily to record the sure out, but he decided to try and turn it into a double play by allowing it to drop before playing it.
Alonso was not expecting the backspin on the ball when it landed, however, and rolled away from him. He had to retreat and make a desperation throw to second, which bounced in the dirt and was not caught. Instead of getting two outs, the Orioles wound up getting none.
Pete Alonso has played a Gold Glove-caliber 1st base for the Orioles this season.
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) May 24, 2026
However, he committed an error here, as it looked like he thought he could set up a double play. Instead, it gave the Tigers runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/fxNr7AVLju
The Tigers took advantage of the mistake by driving both runs, giving them a 2-0 lead.
The Orioles handed Alonso $155 million this offseason, but that was primarily for his bat, not his glove. He has delivered on that so far with 10 home runs in 51 games, but in the future, he might be better off just taking the sure out on defense instead of risking such a mistake.
