Final Score: Mets 9, Orioles 4—Scooter and the Big Man

Michael Conforto was the hero for the Mets with the bat this afternoon in Baltimore, knocking in five runs in total in a victory over the Orioles. Two of those came in the form of a two-run homer in the first inning off John Means that handed Michael Wacha an immediate lead to work with. Wacha had an easy first inning, but allowed two runs in the second inning to tie the game, struggling mightily with his control. The second inning also featured Jake Marisnick smashing into the center field wall, Aaron Rowand style, but managing to stay in the game afterwards.

In just his second start back from the injured list, the Mets were conservative with Wacha, pulling him from the game after just three innings of work with a rising pitch count and the game still tied. David Peterson pitched very well in relief of Wacha, blanking the Orioles for four innings. The Mets were able to get Peterson a win, breaking through against Means in the fifth thanks to a leadoff walk by Amed Rosario and an RBI double off the bat of Conforto. Pete Alonso contributed an insurance run in the sixth—a towering shot to the second deck in left field, which stretched the Mets’ lead to 4-2 and ended Means’ day.

The Mets pulled away against the Orioles bullpen, scoring a run in the seventh and four runs in the eighth to open up a comfortable lead. Miguel Castro made his Mets debut against his former team and pitched a scoreless eighth. Justin Wilson followed and the Orioles scored two runs on an epic defensive miscue by the Mets in the ninth, but Wilson held them there to secure the victory.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

1. stickguy: 85
2. MetsFan4Decades: 79
3. LouMonte7: 48
4. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 32
5. AnneInFlushing: 27
6. Knurk: 20
7. Infoseeker: 14
8. Gina: 13
9. wilwilco: 12
10. NateW: 12

Nice job by stickguy; his effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.