Pete Alonso is heating up for the Orioles, but Craig Breslow got the Red Sox’ trade for Willson Contreras right

After a slow start to his first season with the Orioles, Pete Alonso arrived at Fenway Park on Tuesday on a bit of a hot streak.

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It continued in the third inning when Connelly Early left a changeup over the plate that Alonso lined into the Monster Seats for a two-run homer. The Orioles went on to a 4-2 victory.

He might not hit 40-plus homers like he did three times with the Mets, but Alonso is showing why Baltimore happily signed him for five years and $155 million. He has 12 homers, 38 RBIs, and has bumped his OPS from .722 on May 19 to .769.

The Orioles have no regrets — and neither do the Red Sox. Their first baseman, Willson Contreras, has been a bright spot in a dismal 25-34 season.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow did not do nearly enough to improve the lineup over the offseason, but he got it right with Contreras. You have to give him at least that.

The Sox traded righthander Hunter Dobbins and two minor league righties to the Cardinals for Contreras on Dec. 22. Dobbins has been in the minors most of the season but picked up his first career save Sunday when he got the final 11 outs of a victory against the Cubs.

Contreras has played like an All-Star for the Sox, hitting .281 with an .878 OPS and playing all but two games. His 11 home runs lead the team, and he has driven in 33 runs.

The surprise has been how well he’s played first base. You’d expect a former catcher to have good hands and a strong arm, but Contreras has improved significantly since moving to first full time last season.

Traditional and advanced statistics show him to be one of the best defenders at his position in the American League.

Interim manager Chad Tracy was a catcher when he was drafted and moved to first base after one season in the minors. He appreciates what Contreras has done.

“It’s not an easy position if you haven’t done it before,” he said. “

It’s very close [to the plate] and there’s people hitting the ball at you really hard. But he seems to have taken to it.”

Contreras also plays with an edge, something the Red Sox needed. He’s not necessarily a dirty player, but does walk up that line and peer over it on occasion. He’s an instigator.

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“Broadly, the example he sets with how hard he plays the game,” Tracy said. “He means a lot to us being there because of how hard he plays and how hard he goes at it.”

Contreras is signed through 2027 at $35.5 million, with the Cardinals paying $8 million of that. There’s a $7.5 million buyout for 2028 or a $20 million team option.

Many Red Sox fans saw Alonso as a perfect fit in Boston because his wife, Haley, grew up on the South Shore. But, as Alonso explained back in April, he preferred the Orioles because his family lives full-time in Tampa and he can commute to spring training in Sarasota. That was something he valued.

It didn’t hurt that the Orioles made him an offer that other teams wouldn’t match. Alonso is 31, so that deal should age well for the team, too.

It sometimes feels like the Sox prize payroll flexibility more than they do avidly pursuing a championship. But trading for Contreras was a good move.

Unquestionably, the Sox should have added another hitter during the offseason. Their panicky pivot to trying to win with pitching and defense just hasn’t worked.

The Sox are one of the worst offensive teams in the game, and it’s embarrassing they have the second-fewest home runs in the majors. Tuesday was the 24th time in 59 games the Sox scored two or fewer runs.

That an overmatched hitter like Masataka Yoshida has started 23 games as the designated hitter is symbolic of their thin roster. He has a .683 OPS with one home run in 116 at-bats.

Alonso and his righthanded power would have been fun to watch at Fenway. But Breslow and the Sox could have found another way to improve the lineup, and they didn’t get that job done.

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