Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field continued on Tuesday as the Mets and Orioles continued their three-game series. The Mets dropped game one to Baltimore on Monday, 2-1. On Tuesday night, they looked to Sean Manaea (5-7, 4.78 ERA, 131 SO) to have a strong outing on the mound against Shane Baz (6-15, 4.11 ERA) on the hill for the Orioles.
The Mets got on the board quickly in the first to take an early lead. Soto and Bo Bichette hit back-to-back singles and Benge was walked to load the bases for Young, who hit a sacrifice fly to score Soto and make it a 1-0 Mets lead.
But the Orioles struck right back in the second on solo home runs by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson to give them a 2-1 lead, but not for long.
The Mets responded immediately in the bottom of the second as A.J. Ewing and Brett Baty each singled to open the inning. Three batters later, it was Soto on an RBI single that tied the game 2-2.
Carson Benge by Roberto Carlo
Benge gave the Mets the lead back in the bottom of the third on a solo home run, his 18th of the year to make it a 3-2 Mets lead.
But in the top of the ninth, Pete Alonso, after going hitless in his first three at-bats, crushed his illustrious 300th home run to deep left-center field to tie the game 3-3.
Soon after, Alonso was cheered on for a curtain call as a visiting player—a rarity. Chants of “Fire Stearns” soon followed, as they have after multiple Alonso at-bats this series so far. Fans have certainly expressed their distaste for Stearns and Steve Cohen’s decision not to aggressively pursue Alonso once he returned to free agency this last offseason. Alonso added fuel to that fire with his game-tying homer.
After the emotional top half, which saw Kodai Senga blow his first save, the Mets were unable to answer back in the bottom of the ninth.
The Orioles and Mets both scored in the 10th. The Orioles scored on a passed ball and the Mets scored on an RBI double by Marcus Semien.
However, things unraveled for New York in the 11th with Jonathan Pintaro on the mound. With the automatic runner on second, Pintaro walked Dylan Beavers and then gave up a long inside-the-park home run to Colby Mayo to give Baltimore a 7-4 lead.
The Mets got one run back in the bottom of the 11th, but it wasn’t enough as the Orioles went on to defeat the Mets 7-5. That win also secured the Orioles a key win as they look to not fall further behind in the AL Wild Card race.
Players of the Game
Carson Benge is Tuesday night’s player of the game for his go-ahead home run in the third and his one RBI and two runs scored on the day.
Bichette also hit well on Tuesday, going 3-for-6 on the day.
On Deck
The Mets and Orioles conclude their three-game series, and Alonso will say farewell to New York one more time on Wednesday, as the teams wrap up their series.
It will be another former Met, Chris Bassitt (7-5, 4.88 ERA, 66 SO), on the hill for the Orioles against right-handed pitcher Robert Stock (1-3, 5.93 ERA, 29 SO) for the Mets.
