NEW YORK (AP) — The moment Pete Alonso couldn’t have imagined as a baseball-loving kid growing up in Florida arrived Tuesday night.

Alonso broke the Mets’ franchise home run record, going deep twice and knocking in three runs as New York beat the Atlanta Braves 13-5 on Tuesday night.

Alonso’s first homer, a two-run shot just beyond the right-centerfield fence off Spencer Strider (5-10) in the third inning, was his 253rd. He moved past Darryl Strawberry, who had held the team mark since 1988.

“As a kid, you don’t really think that it’s in the realm of the possibility to be a franchise home run leader,” Alonso said after the Mets moved withing five games of NL East-leading Philadelphia. “You just want to get to the big leagues and give it your best. And the dream is really kind of this opaque and unknown thing. You just want to get there and compete, play for a World Series, play winning baseball.

“I mean, it’s a wild dream, to be honest, and it’s really special.”

Following the homer, the Mets displayed a graphic on the scoreboard with the number 253, alongside pictures of Alonso and polar bears in honor of the slugger’s nickname.

Alonso embraced Brandon Nimmo, who scored ahead of him, and another longtime teammate, on-deck hitter Jeff McNeil, before doffing his cap and blowing kisses to a near-sellout crowd that included New York owner Steve Cohen.

“I’ve seen enough now where I was like ‘man, I think that’s a home run,’” Nimmo said. “Just absolutely looked like it was shot out of a cannon and has a different sound to it.”

Led by manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets poured out of the dugout to exchange embraces with Alonso as the crowd chanted his name. Alonso emerged for another curtain call during McNeil’s at-bat.

“I had tears in my eyes,” Mendoza said after the Mets snapped a seven-game losing streak and won for just the second time in 13 games. “For how much we’ve been through the past two months, to just live that moment, I think we’ve just got to take a step back there and appreciate what you’re experiencing.”

Following the inning, the Mets played the theme from “The Natural” and Alonso again doffed his cap as the camera lingered on Strawberry’s No. 18 hanging above foul territory in left field at Citi Field.

“To be able to do that in front of this crowd, it’s really special,” Alonso said.

The Mets posted a congratulatory message from Strawberry on their social media channels.

“You have worked hard, you have stood up in the pressure of New York City and you have played well,” Strawberry said. “It’s well-deserved. You are a homegrown player. Again, congratulations and continue to have great success. All the best, buddy.”

Alonso went deep again in the sixth, connecting for a solo shot off Austin Cox. It was his franchise-record 25th multi-homer game, three more than Strawberry.

Alonso has six homers in 10 games this month — one more than he hit in 43 games from June 10 through July 30. He tied Strawberry’s record by going deep against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday and set the record in his 965th regular-season game, 144 fewer than Strawberry.

With the record-breaker out of the way, the focus now turns to how long Alonso will remain in New York to add to his total.

A homegrown star, 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.

He has played in 372 straight games, another franchise record.

“To have a player like that — you drafted, you developed and here he is, still performing day in and day out, you can’t just take that for granted,” Mendoza said.

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 likely will decline.

“I have a goal to play baseball until I’m through my age-40 season,” Alonso said.

“And business side, Steve and David (Stearns), they’ve got to come through,” Alonso added with a grin, referring to the Mets’ president of baseball operations.

Asked how many homers he thinks he could hit for the Mets, Alonso smiled again.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he said.

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