New York Mets' Pete Alonso breaks NL rookie record with 40th home run

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso blasted his 40th home run of the season Sunday to break the National League rookie record for homers in a single season.

Alonso belted a 418-foot homer off Kansas City Royals pitcher Jacob Barnes in the ninth inning. The solo shot broke a tie with Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger for most home runs by an NL rookie in one season.

Bellinger, who has an MLB-leading 42 home runs this season, hit 39 homers in the 2017 campaign to set the previous single-season rookie mark.

"It's crazy. I don't even know," Alonso told reporters. "It's something that, coming into camp I didn't know if I was going to make the team or not. To break this record and have a good season and keep playing the way I've been playing to try to help this team win, this season's been unbelievable. It's been a dream come true so far."

Alonso also became the first Mets player to record 40 home runs in a single season since Carlos Beltran in 2016.

The Mets defeated the Royals 11-5 to pull the team into a three-way tie in the National League wild-card race. New York is 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who play the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday night.

The Cubs hold the second wild-card spot, while the Washington Nationals sit atop the NL wild-card standings.