Mets vs. Orioles Recap: Syndergaard, bullpen can't hold pair of leads as Mets lose

The Mets lost a tough game in Baltimore last night. Despite having the lead through most of the game, they twice couldn’t hold on to it and wound up losing on a walk-off home run in ninth inning that just cleared the left field fence at the Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was the sort of game that would sting a lot less if it didn’t matter, but the fact that it does is a good problem to have.

Noah Syndergaard, whose statistics on the road thus far in his rookie season had gotten quite a bit of attention lately, got into a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning, but he got a strikeout and double play to get out of it unscathed. From there, he pitched well through the fifth inning, allowing just one run on a Steve Clevenger single in the fourth. But he quickly gave up a double and a two-run home run to start the sixth inning, which tied the game at three.

The Mets had the lead heading into that inning thanks largely to Daniel Murphy, who hit a solo home run in the first and drove in Curtis Granderson on a single in the fifth. Their other run scored on a Wilmer Flores single in the fourth.

After Logan Verrett came in to replace Syndergaard and threw a scoreless inning, Flores put the Mets right back on top with a solo home run to begin the seventh inning. But that was the last run the Mets scored in the game.

Hansel Robles pitched the seventh, and after retiring the first two batters he faced, he allowed a game-tying home run to Adam Jones. He got the next batter he faced, too, and Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless eighth. But Carlos Torres surrendered the walk-off home run to Henry Urrutia, who had hit a handful of home runs in the minors but never one in the majors before last night, to lead off the ninth inning and end the game.

As for the National League East race, the Nationals beat the Rockies again last night. That leaves the Mets with a 3.5-game lead for now. The Mets are off today and begin a three-game series in Colorado on Friday. The Nationals play the Rockies once more tonight.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Camden Chat GameThread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Daniel Murphy, +16.5% WPA, Wilmer Flores, +14.7% WPA, Logan Verrett, +12.2% WPA
Big losers: Carlos Torres, -37.7% WPA, Noah Syndergaard, -24.2% WPA, Hansel Robles, -16.8% WPA, Travis d’Arnaud, -12.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wilmer Flores’s go-ahead home run in the seventh, +21.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Henry Urrutia’s walk-off home run in the ninth, -37.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -56.7% WPA
Total batter WPA: +6.7% WPA
GWRBI!: Henry Urrutia