Orioles respond to bad news by beating Mets 9-5 (updated)

NEW YORK – Only in 2024 can a day like this one seem eerily routine to the Orioles.

They lose a reliever to the paternity list, which is a simple swap by calling up another arm for temporary service. They lose a starter to the injured list, which is much harder to overcome and keeps happening to them. This team could field an impressive rotation out of shelved pitchers.

The level of adversity threatens to rise above their heads, but they suit up again, jog onto the field and take care of their business.

A night after enduring Francisco Alvarez’s walk-off home run and animated celebration, the Orioles jumped out to an early lead against the Mets and evened the series with a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 34,225 at Citi Field.

Knock down this team and it pops back up.

“It’s been difficult losing guys here and there along the way and our guys have continued to play hard,” manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today. “It’s been tough putting together consistent streaks. We haven’t won as many series as we want to, but we have the talent to be able to do that. We’ve just got to continue to play.”

Anthony Santander provided a big lift in the first inning with a two-run homer off José Quintana, his team-leading 37^th of the season. James McCann flashed his own power in the fourth, marking his return to Queens with a two-run shot into the second deck in left field.

Dean Kremer has registered back-to-back quality starts after holding the Mets to one run and two hits in six innings, and the Orioles improved to 74-53 overall and 16-20 against the National League. They lead the Yankees by a half-game in the division.

"That was enormous," Hyde said. "He threw the ball so well. Totally in command. The split was good again, he’s got a good fastball, two-seamer, cutter. Dumped some curveballs in. I just thought he did a great job of mixing and pitched extremely well.”

There had to be more anxious moments. Burch Smith allowed four runs (three earned) in the eighth on doubles by Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, sandwiched around Gunnar Henerson’s fielding error, and J.D. Martinez’s three-run homer to reduce the lead to 7-5. Smith has been scored upon in five of his last seven appearances with eight earned runs to leave his ERA at 4.76.

Cano retired two batters in the eighth and the Orioles scored twice in the ninth with the help of throwing errors by Nimmo and reliever Danny Young on the same play. Henderson dumped an RBI single into left field, with the ball rolling past a diving Nimmo. Young allowed Ryan Mountcastle to scamper home and Henderson dived into third base.

As further proof that there would be no sulking despite the bad news earlier today, Colton Cowser scored from second base on Ramón Urías’ roller up the first base line in the fourth inning. McCann followed with a blast that gave him three RBIs on the night.

"Anytime you’re facing a team you previously played for, I think there’s always a little extra," Hyde said. "I know that homer felt good. Beautiful swing. It ended up being a huge hit for us.”

The Mets signed McCann to a four-year, $40.6 million contract and traded him after two seasons, agreeing to be responsible for $19 million.

"You know, I’ll say I didn’t know what I was going to feel like coming back here," he said. "I have good memories here. My family loved our time here. My tenure individually didn’t go the way I anticipated or expected, things happen for a reason and I’m at peace with it."

A smattering of boos could be heard from the stands.

"I try not to pay attention to the crowd," he said. "Whether we’re on the road or at home, I try and focus on what I can control. That’s what I did tonight.

"I’ve said it before, things just didn’t go the way I expected. Things happen for a reason. I’m at peace with that. I trust God’s plan. Do I wish that things had gone differently? Absolutely. I wish that it would have been the opposite but it wasn’t and there’s nothing I can do about it now."

Austin Slater had two hits atop the order, including a single in the first. He was thrown out trying to steal, but Henderson walked with two outs and Santander pulled a full-count changeup 402 feet to left-center field.

Cowser led off the second with a triple on a ball that hit Nimmo’s glove and fell back into it after grazing the padding as he tumbled to the ground. An out call was overturned on review and McCann lifted a sacrifice fly to medium center field for a 3-0 lead.

"It kind of gives you an ease of mind, so to speak," Kremer said of the early support. "But yeah, I love watching our offense hit the ball around the yard.”

How the fourth played out prompted more boos from Mets fans.

Cowser doubled with one out to get him halfway to the cycle and Urías followed with his dribbler that Alvarez failed to pick up on his first attempt. Cowser saw that home plate was unoccupied and never broke stride as Urías reached on an infield hit.

The fundamentals were displayed again in the bottom of the fourth when Pete Alonso walked with one out and Henderson sprinted into shallow left field to make a sliding catch on his knees of Jesse Winker’s popup, his momentum almost carrying him behind third base. Kremer raced over to cover the bag in case the ball dropped.

Kremer retired the first six batters, striking out four, but he walked Alvarez and Jeff McNeil back-to-back on nine pitches to open the third. He struck out the next two batters to nearly escape the jam, but Mark Vientos lined a sinker to left field to score Alvarez.

The only two hits against Kremer were doubles. He walked three batters, struck out seven and threw 100 pitches, five short of his season high. He’s allowed two runs in his last two starts over 12 innings to bring down his ERA to 4.30.

"I was competitive with my sinker and splitter today, and that kind of got me through," Kremer said, "and then McCann back there, both of us kind of were similar headspace. So, it makes it easier for us.”

Losing Zach Eflin for however long to right shoulder inflammation shines more of a spotlight on Kremer.

“We all have that next-up mentality, and whatever happened yesterday doesn't really matter and we move forward from there," he said.

“It's not easy. It's hard to replace the guys that we have but somebody's got to do it. The world keeps spinning. So just every guy who comes up here knows that they have a job to do and try to do the best they can.”

Keegan Akin was missing from the bullpen after leaving the team for the birth of his second baby. Dillon Tate was recalled for the second time, but Cionel Pérez retired the side in the seventh, Yennier Cano recorded three huge outs and Craig Kimbrel got the last two.

Eloy Jiménez broadened the lead for Kremer in the fifth with a two-out double that scored Henderson and made him 15-for-42 (.357) with the Orioles, who didn't let Eflin's injury break them. They've built up an immunity to it.

“Stressful day and a little bit of a stressful evening," Hyde said. "With Eff going on the IL, that hurts and we’re hoping that he’s gonna get back right away after the IL stint’s over. We’re gonna have to rely on offensively. We had one bad inning out of the ‘pen today but hopefully that can improve. It’s gonna take all of us. It’s gonna take a team effort every single night. I was happy with how our guys were really locked in tonight.

"Next man up mentality," McCann said. "We’ve had it since I got here. Every time someone seems to step up and get it done and I don’t expect anything different this time."

* The Orioles are selecting Cole Irvin's contract from Triple-A Norfolk Wednesday and he's starting as Eflin's replacement. They must clear room on the 40-man roster, and Smith could be vulnerable.

* Bruce Zimmermann made another shortened start at Norfolk, going two innings and allowing two earned runs and three total. Coby Mayo reported to the Tides and singled in his first and last at-bats. Daniel Johnson hit his 19^th home run.

Double-A Bowie’s Enrique Bradfield Jr. had a single, double, triple, two RBIs, two walks, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Reed Trimble hit his first home run with the Baysox.

High-A Aberdeen’s Zach Fruit didn’t allow a hit in six scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 3.03.

Single-A Delmarva reliever Justin Showalter tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts.