Orioles load 'em and leave 'em in first inning (Urrutia walk-off homer)

The Orioles showed tonight that they can get runners on base against Mets starter Noah Syndergaard. It's the scoring part that may be a challenge.

Manny Machado doubled on the first pitch thrown by Syndergaard, Gerardo Parra singled and Adam Jones walked to load the bases with no outs. Chris Davis struck out on an 81 mph curveball with the count full, and Jonathan Schoop grounded into a 4-3 double play with the count full.

Syndergaard threw 23 pitches in the first inning and the Orioles let him off the hook. It helps when the opponent is swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.

Syndergaard entered the game with a 5.29 ERA in the first inning this season. He's 7-1 with a 1.82 ERA and 0.808 WHIP in nine starts at Citi Field and 0-5 with a 5.01 ERA and 1.548 WHIP in eight starts away from home.

Parra is 12-for-24 with three home runs and five RBIs in his last six games.

The Orioles continued their trend of falling behind early in games.

Curtis Granderson homered last night on the second pitch from Kevin Gausman. Daniel Murphy, the second batter of tonight's game, launched a slider from Ubaldo Jimenez onto the flag court in right field to give the Mets another 1-0 lead.

Jimenez retired Granderson on a liner to first baseman Chris Davis, but Murphy jumped on the fourth pitch he saw for his ninth home run of the season.

Jimenez got ahead 0-2 in the count, missed with a 90 mph fastball and regretted the slider that followed. He threw 22 pitches in the inning, with Yoenis Cespedes reaching on an infield hit and Juan Uribe walking.

Uribe is 5-for-14 lifetime against Jimenez.

Henry Urrutia is making his fifth start for the Orioles since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday. He served as the designated hitter in his first game and has been in left field for the last four.

Urrutia robbed former Oriole Danny Valencia of a home run with a leaping grab during Sunday's 18-2 blowout win. His defense needed to improve and he's putting it on display.

Is Urrutia in left field because of the improvement or the opportunity that's available to him?

"I think both," said manager Buck Showalter. "I tell players all the time in the spring, 'If you guys want to come in every morning, the meeting we have every morning, there's nothing we're going to say in there that we wouldn't say in front of you.' We were very, 'blunt' sounds a little too cold, but 'here's what you need to do.'

"It's kind of like our conversation with Steve Clevenger and different guys we have when they get sent down. 'It doesn't make us right or wrong, but here's what the difference is right now and if you go work on it ... And understand I'm going to ask those guys down in Norfolk and Bowie every time I talk to them about how you're doing with that part of the game.' And Henry worked very hard at it.

"I watched him a lot in the early spring when I got down there. We hadn't even reported and Henry was out there every day. He knew that was something that he had to get better at. I'm proud of him."

Update: The Orioles trail 3-1 going to the bottom of the fifth.

Wilmer Flores drove in a run in the third inning after Jimenez walked three batters in the inning. Steve Clevenger bounced an RBI single into center field in the fourth after Adam Jones doubled and Chris Davis walked, but Murphy delivered an RBI single in the fifth after Granderson doubled.

Jimenez has thrown 94 pitches in five innings.

Update II: Jimenez allowed three runs and five hits in five innings, with four walks, six strikeouts and a home run. He threw 94 pitches, 52 strikes.

Jimenez hasn't gone more than five innings in nine of his last 14 starts.

Update III: Jonathan Schoop followed Davis' double in the sixth with a game-tying two-run homer, his ninth of the season.

Update IV: Flores homered off Mychal Givens leading off the seventh. The Mets are ahead 4-3.

Update V: Adam Jones homered off Hansel Robles with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 4-4. Jones has 23 home runs this season.

Update VI: Henry Urrutia hit a walk-off home run off Carlos Torres leading off the bottom of the ninth - his first major league home run. And yes, he got pied.

Orioles 5, Mets 4

Urrutia lined a 1-2 pitch into the left field seats for the Orioles' sixth walk-off home run this season. And the Orioles ended their losing streak to the Mets at nine games.