O's for Two

Orioles 7, Mets 3 (Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD)

Mets Record: 53-41

Mets Streak: L2

Mets Last 10: 5-5

WP: Tomoyuki Sagano (7-5) LP: Justin Hagenman (0-1)

Seat On The Korner:

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Today's Seat On The Korner goes to new Orioles' catcher Alex Jackson, whose second-inning double in his first Baltimore at-bat drove in the O's first run, cutting a then deficit to 2-1. Jackson then came around to score on a Jordan Westburg home run that gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead. In the sixth inning, with Baltimore now leading 5-3, Jackson led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a Jordan Westburg fielder's choice. By the time Jackson's Orioles debut game was over, he went 2-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and one RBI.

Need To Know:

• This was the third doubleheader of the season for the Mets. They have been swept twice, and split the other.

• Brandon Nimmo played in his 1,000th career game in Game 1. He is the 11th player to play over 1,000 games for the Mets. Ed Kranepool is the all-time Mets leader with 1,853.

• In between Game 1 and Game 2, MLB announced that Mets starting pitcher will replace Robbie Ray on the National League All-Star team.

• In one of the few bright spots on the day, Brett Baty hit a 2-out RBI single in the top of the 4th inning to tie the game at 3.

• That hit, however, was the only hit the Mets had with runners in scoring position. On the day, between both games, the Mets went 2-19 in such opportunities.

• Juan Soto stole his 11th base of the season, while Brandon Nimmo stole his 10th. Soto is one SB away from tying his career high for a single season.

• The Mets are now 73/83 in stolen base attempts this season, which is a remarkable 88% success rate.

Turning Point:

With the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the 5th, the Orioles had runners on first and second with two outs when Colton Cowser stepped to the plate. Much like Brett Baty did an inning earlier, Cowser delivered a 2-out RBI single. This one put the O's ahead 4-3, and they would never relinquish the lead.

Baty's error on a Ramon Urias one-hopper in the next at-bat allowed a 5th run to score. The Orioles would add two more in the following inning.

Three Things:

Starting Things Off Right For Real This Time

Just as in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Mets had runners on second and third with no outs. This time, however, they were able to take advantage. Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a single to center, and Francisco Lindor followed with a double to right. In an identical situation in the first game, Juan Soto struck out, as did the next batter, Pete Alonso. In Game 2, Soto grounded out to shortstop, driving the first run home. Alonso then followed with a sacrifice fly to right.

Rico Suave

The Mets first three pitchers all yielded runs. Brandon Waddell (3 runs in 3 IP), Justin Hagenman (3 runs in 2 IP), Richard Lovelady (1 run in .1 IP), were different degrees of ineffective. But, recent pickup, Rico Garcia closed out the game for the Mets, pitching the final 2.2 innings without giving up a baserunner while striking out 1.

So far with the Mets, Garcia has pitched 4.2 hitless innings with 2 K's and no walks.

Watch Out, Keith!

Mets Hall-of-Famer and the K in GKR, Keith Hernandez, was fortunate to escape Baltimore unscathed. A 7th inning foul ball off the bat of Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins just missed Hernandez who was too focused on the field to notice, until it was too late. Fortunately, the ball landed just a bit behind him.