Baseball fans packed Citi Field on Sunday night expecting fireworks, and Shohei Ohtani wasted no time delivering. But did you think that it was just his thunderous 411-foot homer that turned heads on Sunday night? Apparently not. Well, it turns out there’s a new storyline unfolding, one that had nothing to do with towering homers or highlight-reel plays. This is because someone—or rather, something—else stole the spotlight: New York Mets ace Kodai Senga’s glove. Believe it or not.

The Mets’ $75 million ace and ghost fork wizard Senga was ready for a showdown. Sure, he didn’t have his sharpest stuff, but he still held the Dodgers to one run over 5 ⅓ gritty innings. But what he didn’t expect was that he would have to go through a last-minute glove change. It turns out that just before that game, umpires asked Senga to ditch his light gray glove. It’s a move that has now raised eyebrows.

Now, rumors are swirling about how the Los Angeles Dodgers may have flagged it.

However, when Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who watched Ohtani throw live BP earlier in the day, was asked about the glove fiasco, he remained unbothered. With a smirk, he said, “I don’t know if it was the Dodgers. The umpires came up, and you know, that’s the rule. It’s either light gray or white—they’re not allowed. I probably would’ve done the same thing.”

And Mendoza wasn’t the only one to comment on the whole speculated controversy. Senga, too, through an interpreter, said, “It’s because the color of the glove is close to the color of the baseball.” Now, whether it’s a harmless rule or a subtle mind game by the Dodgers—who knows? Either way, it seemed intended to put Senga on the back foot before he even threw a pitch. But if this was a psychological tactic, it didn’t work.

Senga shook off Ohtani’s leadoff bomb—the first homer he’d allowed in over 200 batters. He used every trick in his arsenal, from fastballs to sliders and that elusive ghost fork. In the end, the Dodgers faced a series loss, and Senga had, well, a slightly bruised ERA of 1.46. While Senga battled on the mound, it was the Mets’ bats—led by Pete Alonso—that delivered the final statement of the night.

New York Mets win big, and so does Pete Alonso’s legacy

The Mets, though, had more to smile about than just a win on Sunday night. Yes, they beat the Dodgers, the team that edged them out for the postseason last time. But another big headline was Pete Alonso and his bat and how exactly he is rewriting Mets history one homer at a time.

See, offensively, the Mets didn’t explode, but they didn’t need to because Alonso took care of it. In the bottom of the third, he launched a two-run homer that flipped the game, recording his 10th of the season and 236th of his career. That puts him just six home runs behind David Wright on the Mets’ all-time list. Darryl Strawberry’s record is not far ahead either. Crazy to think that Alonso nearly had or almost had his foot out of New York this off-season—isn’t it? Steve Cohen might be thanking his stars for having convinced the Polar Bear himself. Especially after Cohen had almost given up on Alonso coming back. But Alonso’s season is heating up big time.

He is hitting. 291 with 40 RBIs and a .927 OPS. And the best part? He is doing it all with that signature Polar Bear calm. Like it’s just another day at the office. This win brings the Mets to a 32-21 record, the same as the Dodgers but in the East. But they are still in second place behind the Atlanta Braves. However, the vibes in Queens are undoubtedly good, and the best part is that they are an army rather than a one-man show. Sure, Juan Soto is there, but even the rest are doing their best, like Alonso.

Next up, the Chicago White Sox are coming to town for a showdown at Citi Field. Do you think Alonso’s bat will remain hot? Let us know.