Orioles complete sweep of Mets behind Alonso’s power surge, keep faint wild-card hopes alive

Baltimore arrived in New York with its season hanging by a thread — and left with a three-game sweep. The Orioles routed the Mets 7-1 on Wednesday at Citi Field, pulling within two and a half games of an American League wild-card spot with nine games remaining.

Pete Alonso delivered the biggest blow of the finale, launching a 413-foot home run to left field in his first at-bat — his 37th of the season and second of the series against his former club. The blast came a day after the slugger hit his 300th career homer, which tied Tuesday’s game in the ninth inning before Baltimore won in extras. He received a tribute video, standing ovations and a curtain call from Mets fans during the series.

Alonso had plenty of company at the plate. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jeremiah Jackson and Samuel Basallo all homered, with all four Baltimore home runs coming off Mets right-hander Xzavion Curry, who was recalled for a spot start after Robert Stock landed on the injured list with finger numbness. Curry surrendered the long balls over the first three innings. Encarnacion-Strand doubled ahead of Basallo’s ninth-inning RBI single that capped the scoring.

Another ex-Met, Chris Bassitt, stifled his old team, matching a season high with 6 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out six. Marcus Semien’s fourth-inning RBI accounted for the only run against him. Since returning from back surgery on Aug. 14, the 37-year-old has pitched into the sixth inning or later in all seven starts, posting a 3.76 ERA over that stretch.

The bullpen finished the job with familiar faces. Anthony Nunez — acquired from the Mets in the Cedric Mullins trade — recorded the final out of the seventh, former Met Josh Walker handled the eighth, and Yennier Cano worked a scoreless ninth.

The Orioles improved to 75-78 and now sit behind the Chicago White Sox, who hold the third AL wild-card spot after dropping Wednesday’s game to the Guardians, giving Cleveland the AL Central lead.

Baltimore’s road ahead is steep: a weekend series starting Friday against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, capped by a nationally televised Sunday Night Baseball matchup on NBC, the broadcast network under Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Comcast shares closed the latest session at $24.52 and were trading recently at $23.73, down 3.22%, valuing the media and telecom company at roughly $92.5 billion. Probable pitchers for the weekend series have not been announced by either club.

What to watch

• Probable starters for the Brewers-Orioles series, expected to be announced before Friday’s opener.
• Alonso’s pursuit of his 38th home run of the season and further career milestones down the stretch.
• Wild-card standings, with nine games left and the White Sox currently holding the final AL spot.
• Bassitt’s next start as he continues his post-surgery rotation run.

Source: original release