By Zachary McMahon-
The New York Mets hosted the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field in Queens for a season-opener on Monday night. The Orioles come to New York after splitting the series with AL East rival the Boston Red Sox, while the Mets lost the series finale against the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
David Peterson tossed a season-high seven innings for the Mets, allowing six hits, two earned runs, one walk with eight strikeouts, while Trevor Rogers only went 4 ⅔ innings for the O’s allowing five hits and three earned runs while walking three and striking out five batters respectively. It’s the first time he’s gone seven innings this season, and since Sept. 28, 2023 when he went seven in a shutout against the Miami Marlins. The only time in his career that him going seven innings had a decision was his last start of his rookie 2020 campaign on Sept. 24 against the Washington Nationals, where he got the win, and ended the season 6-2. The eight strikeouts tie his season high in which he did this in the Subway Series on June 25 against the New York Yankees.
After Francisco Lindor lead off with a strikeout, Matt Vientos singled (seven-game hitting streak), and then J.D. Martinez hit a two-run home run to get the ball rolling in the first inning. Tyrone Taylro brought in a run on an RBI single in the fourth inning, as the Mets lead 3-0 before Jackson Holliday brought home Ramon Urias for the Orioles’s first run of the game.
The O’s tied it up after Ryan Mountcastle hit a double, and then while Colton Cowser was at the plate, Peterson balked while Mountcastle was at third, so he was allowed to score. Then, Urias hit a solo homer in the seventh inning.
Jose Butto and Edwin Diaz did not allow any hits in the eighth and ninth innings from the Orioles, which allowed Francisco Alvarez to hit a walk-off homer as the Mets won 4-3.
This was the Mets’s eighth walk-off of the season, and fourth walk-off homer, and the first career walk-off for Alvarez, who was the only member of the Mets to not hit a walk-off RBI. This was the fourth time the Orioles lost in a walk-off, the first time since Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a walk-off single on May 14, as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. This was the first time that the Orioles have lost on a walk-off home run was in their second game of the season last season, when Adam Duvall walked it off for the Red Sox on April 1.
Alvarez is the third youngest player in Mets history to hit a walk-off home run, behind Ron Swobody who was 22 years and 35 days old on Aug. 4, 1966, and Lee Mazzilli at 21 years and 179 days old on Sept. 20, 1976.
Gunnar Henderson, who hit four homers in the last five games entering this game, extended his on-base streak to six games and has reached 10 out of his last 11. Mountcastle had a single and a double, as he has hit safely in 10 out of the last 14 games, including four multi-hit games. Ryan O’Hearn pinch hit for Eloy Jimenez in the ninth, and grounded out as he has not struck out in 30 consecutive plate appearances, which is the second longest streak in the MLB behind Padres’s Luis Arraez.
Austin Slater had a leadoff walk, as he has reached safely in eight out of the 10 games he has played as an Oriole. Cowser had his 99th hit of his career as a single in the third, as he is one shy of 100 hits.
Lindor did not register a hit, as his 12-game hitting streak got snapped, which was the second longest streak in the majors, however he did walk in the fifth, which extends his on-base streak to 18 games.
The second game of the series will play on Tuesday at 7:10 with Dean Kremer and Jose Guintana matching up on the mound.
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