The New York Mets suffered another painful loss Tuesday night, blowing a late lead before Coby Mayo’s three-run inside-the-park home run in the 11th inning lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-5 victory at Citi Field.
New York fell to 69-82 with the loss and struggled to take advantage of its opportunities throughout the night. The Mets went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners, including several chances late in the game.
The Mets led by one run entering the ninth, but former Met Pete Alonso tied the game against Kodai Senga with his 300th career home run. Alonso, playing his second game at Citi Field since joining Baltimore, crushed a hanging pitch 414 feet into the second deck in left field. The home run came off the bat at 109.6 miles per hour and brought a loud reaction from the Citi Field crowd.
Senga, who had thrown 24 pitches Monday night, retired the next two batters to keep the game tied and send it to extra innings.
Baltimore regained the lead in the 10th when a wild pitch allowed Christian Encarnacion-Strand to score, but Marcus Semien answered with a game-tying double in the bottom half. The Mets then put runners at the corners with one out, but Francisco Alvarez struck out to end the threat.
Mayo delivered the decisive blow in the 11th. With two runners aboard, he sent a ball deep toward center field that A.J. Ewing tracked to the wall. Ewing could not make the catch, and the ball rolled away as Mayo raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
New York scored once in the bottom of the 11th on an RBI single from Bo Bichette but could not complete the comeback.
Sean Manaea allowed two runs over 5.1 innings, striking out six and walking none. Bichette finished 3-for-6 with an RBI, while Juan Soto collected two hits.
The Mets and Orioles conclude their series Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. Robert Stock is scheduled to start for New York against former Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.