As you may have heard, Pete Alonso returned with his new team to Citi Field tonight, and the Mets lost to the Orioles 2-1. Although Jonah Tong pitched admirably, the Mets could not capitalize on their six hits and left nine runners on base.
After Jonah Tong struck out Dylan Beavers to lead off the first inning, Alonso stepped up to thunderous applause, cheers, and chants of his name. He flied out to Carson Benge in right field, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. Tong then retired Gunnar Henderson as well for a 1-2-3 start to his day. In the bottom of the inning, Francisco Lindor walked to lead off, but Juan Soto popped out, and Bo Bichette grounded into a double play for the second and third outs to end the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Jackson Holliday looped a one-out single into right field. He reached second on a passed ball by Francisco Alvarez, which had popped out of Alvarez’s glove. It proved costly when Heston Kjerstad drilled a double into right field past Brett Baty. The ball made a weird hop past Baty, and Holliday scored the first run of the game. When the Mets came to bat in the second, they loaded the bases with two outs. Marcus Semien drilled a single down the left-field line, and then A.J. Ewing and Baty walked. Unfortunately, they were all stranded when Alvarez struck out on a foul tip for the third out, and the second inning ended with the score Orioles 1, Mets 0.
Alonso drew a two-out walk in the third inning, but was stranded there when Tong struck out Henderson. At the bottom of the third, Juan Soto smacked a one-out single into right field. Benge sneaked a single past third base, but both runners were again stranded when Jared Young grounded out for the third out. At the top of the fourth inning, Holliday hit a ground ball straight to Semien, but Semien could not get it out of his glove in a timely manner, and Holliday made it to first base safely. He was stranded as well, though. At the bottom of the inning, Ewing drilled a home run into right field. Alvarez smacked a ground ball to third base that Coby Mayo initially fielded but bobbled, allowing Alvarez to reach base safely on an infield hit. However, he was also stranded when Lindor struck out, leaving the score Mets 1, Orioles 1, at the end of the fourth inning.
To lead off the fifth inning, Colton Cowser hit a single that Semien knocked down but couldn’t get to first base in time. The next three batters went down in order. Soto walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth and, with two outs, stole second base. Young also drew a walk, but Semien grounded out to end the rally attempt there. Tong came back out for the top of the sixth inning and only needed six pitches to retire the three batters he saw. Josh Walker replaced Brandon Young for the Orioles at the bottom of the sixth, and he also worked a 1-2-3 inning. The score remained 1-1.
Jonathan Pintaro replaced Jonah Tong in the seventh inning. He allowed a lead-off double to Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who drove the ball into left field. However, Pintaro retired the next three batters in order to keep the score tied. The Mets batters went down in order at the bottom of the inning. Dedniel Núñez replaced Pintaro to pitch the eighth inning and allowed a soaring home run to Henderson with two outs. Mayo then belted a single into left field before Holliday grounded out to end the top of the inning. At the bottom of the eighth, Benge led off with a single into center field. Nobody else could build on it, even with Mark Vientos pinch-hitting for Young. As a result, the Mets again stranded a base runner to end the eighth inning. The Orioles led 2-1.
Kodai Senga came out for the ninth inning, and he struck out Encarnacion-Strand for the first out. However after that, he gave up a single to Kjerstad and another to Cowser. Ewing could not field the ball cleanly on the single to Cowser, and Kjerstad advanced to third on the error as well. However, Senga struck out the next two batters to end the top of the ninth and give the Mets a chance. In the bottom of the inning, Baty flied out, Alvarez grounded out, and Lindor flied out to end the game, Orioles 2, Mets 1.
The Mets will see the Orioles again tomorrow for the second game of the series. Sean Manaea will face off against Shane Baz. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Jonah Tong, +22% WPA
Big Mets loser: Dedniel Núñez, -20% WPA
Mets pitchers: +14% WPA
Mets hitters: -64% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing home run, +14.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Gunnar Henderson home run, -29.5% WPA
