Bassitt Hounds Mets As O's Feast on Curry

Orioles 7 Mets 1 (Citi Field, Flushing, N.Y,)

Mets record: 69-83

Mets streak: Lost 4

WP - Chris Bassitt (8-5)

LP - Xzavion Curry (0-1)

Seat on the Korner: Pete Alonso

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

How could we let a three-game series go by without giving one of the sears to Pete Alonso? We're not going to fawn all over him, like the ESPN broadcast did, or turn our attention to him even when the game didn't dictate it, but, hey, Alonso did hit a first-inning home run, so we can justify giving him the seat. But there's a lot more to talk about with him, and we know Ralph will cover it all.

Need to Know

• The Orioles' swpp of the Mets represented the eighth time they have been swept in a series this year. They have swept teams five times.

• Xzavion Curry was recalled from Syracuse and got the start because the Mets had to place scheduled starter Robert Stock on the IL with numbness in his fingers. The move ends Stock's season and perhaps his time with the Mets. His numbers: a 1-3 record, 5.93 ERA over seven starts and one relief appearance.

• More bad pitching news: Daniel Duarte's season also ended, the result of a hamstring strain, apparently suffered while covering home plate on a wild pitch in the 10th inning of Tuesday's game. Duarte became a reliable member of the bullpen, especially after the trade deadline selloff. He ends his season with a 2.12 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, striking out 30 in 29.2 innings.

• Jefry Yan replaced Duarte on the roster and impressed the home fans while disappointing the ESPN broadcasting crew. He tossed three scoreless innings, including the sixth, when he struck out the side without once jumping for joy. We guess he took to heart the talking to about not celebrating when the opposition has a five-run lead.

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• The stumbling Phillies come to town Thursday for the final homestand of the season. After a torrid August in which it seemed that they were challenging the Braves for the division lead, their September swoon has them trying to hold on for a wild card spot. Going into Wednesday's games, they held the second wild card, only one game ahead of the surging Padres and three and a half ahead of the Diamondbacks. With Jesus Luzardo placed on the IL, the Phillies were expected to recall recently signed former Yankee (Nasty) Nestor Cortez from AAA to pitch one of the games.

• The Mets are 22-17 since the trade deadline.The Mets are 35-36 since Andy Green replaced Carlos Mendoza.

  
  

Turning Point

Everything considered, the Mets certainly should have been able to survive Pete Alonso's bases-empty homer in the first, and possiblyJeremiah Jackson's two-run dinger in the second. But everything came crashing down in the third, when Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Samuel Basallo went back to back, giving the Birds a six-run lead and placing the game essentially out of reach for the Mets.

Three Keys

Bassitt Bites Mets

In a series where it seemed that former Mets kept parading onto the field wearing Orioles uniforms, Chris Bassitt put the capper on the sweep with six and two-thirds innings of five-hit, one-run, six-strikeout pitching.

We remember how well Bassitt pitched for the Mets in 2022 (his final start in the playoffs notwithstanding), and how he left the Mets as a free agent, signing a three-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays. We'll agree that's one free agent the Mets were probably okay in letting walk -- he wasn't worth that kind of money -- but tonight, well, you have to wonder since was durable and reasonably good during his time in Toronto before leaving for Baltrimore.

X Misses the Spot

Xzavion Curry's time with the Mets this year is best characterized with a y-word, as in yo-yo, and after being recalled today for his fifth stint with the team, you have to wonder in he's going to yo-yo back to the minors. The line on Curry wasn't pretty -- six runs, six hits in three innings, including four home runs. The six runs almost equalled the seven total he had allowed in his four previous callups. Curry had worked as a starter in Syracuse, but he did nothing tonight to merit another start with the big club.

Because We Like to Say At Least One Positive Thing About the Mets

A.J. Ewing continued his hot September, with two singles and a stolen base that tied him with Mookie Wilson for the team's rookie record. It was Ewing's seventh multi-hit game in the last 15 games. Over that stretch, he has been hitting .390 (21-54).