Alonso, Conforto Lead Mets To 7-6 Win Over Orioles
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit his second dramatic homer in a week Wednesday night, when his shot to center field leading off the eighth inning lifted the New York Mets to a 7-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Alonso hit a walk-off, two-run homer to give the Mets a 9-7, 10-inning win over the New York Yankees last Thursday in the first game the Mets played following the death of franchise icon Tom Seaver.
On Wednesday, the Mets snapped a two-game skid by coming back from deficits of 5-1 and 6-3. Jeff McNeil, who had an RBI single in the second, homered for the fourth straight game when he launched a two-run shot in the fourth.
DJ Stewart answered for the Orioles by extending his home run streak to four games with a leadoff shot in the fifth.
Michael Conforto homered and Robinson Cano delivered an RBI single in the fifth, and Conforto kept the Mets within striking distance in the top of the sixth when he robbed Rio Ruiz of a likely three-RBI extra-base hit with a snow-cone catch.
Andres Gimenez homered in the bottom of the inning to tie the score before Alonso, who had two singles in his first three at-bats, homered off Hunter Harvey (0-1).
Jeurys Familia (2-0) threw the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz earned his third save.
Run-scoring singles by Renato Nunez, Ryan Mountcastle and Hanser Alberto and a two-run double by Ruiz staked the Orioles to their four-run lead. Mountcastle went 4 for 4 while Stewart was 3 for 3.
The Orioles' Jorge Lopez gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Mets right-hander Rick Porcello was charged with five runs in four innings.
PAYING TRIBUTE TO CLEMENTE
Seven players and staff members — four Orioles and three Mets — wore No. 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente Day, which was observed throughout Major League Baseball.
Lopez took the mound with Clemente's number, as did infielder Andrew Velazquez, third base coach Jose Flores and hitting coach Jose Hernandez. For New York, pitchers Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo wore No. 21 along with bullpen coach Ricky Bones.
Orioles infielder Hanser Alberto and Mets pitcher Steven Matz are their team's nominees for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given annually in honor of the Pirates legend, who died while flying to Nicaragua on a humanitarian mission on New Year's Eve 1972.
THEY'RE STREAKING
Stewart and McNeil weren't the only players to extend streaks. Ruiz's two-run double in the third gave him a 10-game hitting streak. However, Jose Iglesias went 0 for 5 as his hitting streak was snapped at 13 games.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: CF Austin Hays (rib) had a live batting practice session in Maryland postponed by rain. .. Manager Brandon Hyde said he hoped RHPs Shawn Armstrong (back) and Alex Cobb (undisclosed) could return by the end of the week.
Mets: RHP Robert Gsellman was placed on the 10-day injured list and is out for the season with a broken rib suffered while delivering his final pitch Tuesday night. RHP Drew Smith was recalled from the alternate site. … Manager Luis Rojas said he expected both RHP Dellin Betances (lat) and Matz (shoulder) to return before the end of the season.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Keegan Akin (0-0, 2.08 ERA) faces the Yankees for the second straight time as the Orioles continue their tour of New York. Baltimore is in the midst of 16 straight games against the Yankees, Mets and Blue Jays, who are based in Buffalo this season.
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (3-1, 1.69 ERA), the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner, is scheduled to open a three-game series in Toronto on Friday. Rojas said deGrom, who last pitched Sunday, will pitch every fifth day the rest of the season.
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