Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets (30-24) split their two-game series against the Baltimore Orioles (22-39) with a dominant 14-1 win on Wednesday evening at Camden Yards. Despite an abundance of injuries, the Mets’ 30-24 mark is their best record through the one-third mark of the season since 2016 (31-23), which was the last year the club reached the postseason.
This well-rounded triumph in Baltimore was made possible with strong pitching across the board and a powerful offensive showing. The pitching staff allowed just one run on five hits. Taijuan Walker (5-2) earned the win behind seven innings of one-run ball, and Jeurys Familia and Seth Lugo each added a scoreless inning in relief.
The offense notched 16 hits with a season-high six homers.
Pete Alonso was 3-for-5 with a double and a homer. Billy McKinney was 3-for-5 with two homers and a career-high five RBI. Kevin Pillar went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. Mason Williams knocked his first home run as a Met.
The Mets simply had a field day at the plate. New York beat up on Matt Harvey early, scoring their first seven runs against the former Met in the first three innings. They put up two early runs in the opening frame after Alonso knocked his 10th homer of the season (and his third in two games) to drive in Francisco Lindor, who reached via a walk. The team added four more in the third when Jonathan Villar‘s leadoff double and a single by Alonso set up first and third with two outs. Back-to-back singles by James McCann and McKinney drove in a pair of runs, and Pillar brought everyone home with a three-run blast, breaking open the game for a 7-1 New York lead.
McKinney knocked a solo homer in the fifth, while Pillar and Williams each hit a solo bomb in the eighth for the first set of back-to-back Mets homers this season.
New York kept the scoring going until the very end. The club added four more runs in the ninth with an Alonso RBI double and a McKinney three-run bomb for the final 14-1 score. The game marks McKinney’s second career two-homer game, and the entire New York outfield got in on the fun. McKinney, Pillar, and Williams combined for five home runs and 10 RBI on Wednesday evening.
On the bump, Walker tossed a gem, allowing just one run over seven innings with 93 pitches thrown. He walked one and struck out nine, lowering his season ERA to 2.07. Jeurys Familia took over in the eighth inning and tossed a 1-2-3 frame before Seth Lugo closed it out with a scoreless ninth, adding a strikeout.
The Mets have the day off on Thursday but will face the San Diego Padres for a second consecutive weekend in a three-game series at Citi Field. New York will send Jacob deGrom (5-2, 0.62 ERA) to the mound to face Blake Snell (2-2, 4.83 ERA) on Friday evening. The matchup features a faceoff between both the NL and AL 2018 Cy Young winners.
Friday’s game is slated for 7:10 pm ET and will be broadcast on SNY and WCBS 880AM.
