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Bryan Baker turned to watch the flight of another baseball heading for the center field fence. He stood with his hand on his hip, certain of the outcome. Pete Alonso knew it, too, carrying his bat most of the way to first base before flipping it in celebration.
A pair of two-run homers off Baker in the eighth inning made a 6-2 lead disappear, and the Orioles would be tested to get back up again, knowing how every loss rips into their hopes for a playoff push and increases the likelihood that the front office sells at the trade deadline.
They couldn't get back on their feet.
The Mets scored a run against Yennier Cano in the top of the 10th inning and defeated the Orioles 7-6 before an announced Hawaiian shirt crowd of 35,200 at Camden Yards.
Juan Soto had an RBI single off Cano. The Mets loaded the bases with one out and couldn't pad their lead, but it didn't matter. Huascar Brazobán kept the automatic runner, Jackson Holliday, at second base.
The Orioles failed to get within eight games of .500, instead falling to 40-50.
The inning lined up nicely for the Orioles with Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O'Hearn, but the result was a strikeout, popup and grounder.
"It's a good part of the order, yeah," O'Hearn said.
"Anytime you get Westy, then Gunn and O in that spot, I think you feel pretty good about it," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "Now, Brazobán’s good, he’s got good stuff. Lefties have handled him pretty good here this year and we liked our chances right there.”
Holliday hit his 12th home run, putting another ball into the bullpen against Mets reliever Alex Carrillo in the seventh. But Francisco Lindor and Alonso homered in the eighth and Baker didn’t retire a batter. Singles preceded both blasts.
"You know, they got him tonight," Mansolino said. "You think about the guys that run out there. It goes (Brandon) Nimmo, really good player, to Lindor, who gets him. It goes middle of the field and Lindor’s done that to a lot of people in bigger moments. Then Soto kind of flips one in softly and then, boom, Pete Alonso hits a slider that’s down and away and hits it over the fence.
"Those are really good hitters, they’ve done that to a lot of people over the years, and unfortunately it wasn’t Bake’s night.”
O’Hearn walked and Colton Cowser singled off former Orioles reliever Reed Garrett in the bottom of the eighth, but Tyler O’Neill grounded into a 5-3 double play. Félix Bautista struck out three batters in the ninth and stranded a runner at second base, the game carried into extras, and the Mets thrilled the large contingent of fans who made the trip to Baltimore.
"I mean, it stings, there’s no doubt," Mansolino said. "It feels the same way as the one we lost in Tampa, the eight-run thing. It’s the same feeling, it doesn’t feel good. I think you constantly go back to your preparation, your process. Did we do everything right? Did we get the guys in the right spots? I feel like we did. It just wasn’t our night.”
Brandon Young understood the assignment. Make an impact and an impression. Try to influence the outcome of the game and whether he stays in a rotation that’s missing multiple starters.
Young tossed in an immaculate inning for good measure. And teammates had the rookie’s back after he lost a slim lead.
O’Hearn doubled with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth to score two runs and move the Orioles ahead again, and Ramón Laureano followed with a two-run single.
Young worked a career-high 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, and left to a standing ovation with his pitch count at 66. Gregory Soto stranded an inherited runner in scoring position and Seranthony Domínguez tossed a scoreless seventh before Baker faltered in the eighth.
Ronny Mauricio led off the sixth with a game-tying home run onto the flag court in right after Young retired 14 of the first 16 batters and struck out six. Back-to-back doubles followed from Brett Baty and Nimmo.
“The fastball jumping out of his hand, A, and B, I think the split was good," Mansolino said. "He threw some good ones. And then in the sixth, I think that was the first time he’s had six ups this year. I think his most was five, and I think right around 70 pitches. So he was cruising right there for the fifth. We had different contingencies kind of set up before the game, if we needed somebody in the fourth inning, the fifth inning. The way that’s going you got really comfortable having him out there, and credit to their guys, they walked out there and they did some damage right away on him.
"It happened fast, kind of the same way the eighth inning happened. And when you’re dealing with a lineup like the Mets, that’s kind of what happens. There’s some good players over there.”
Young will start again Sunday against the Marlins to close out the first half.
"Overall, felt good," Young said. "Felt I had command of not just one or two pitches, but a couple, and kept them on their toes. I worked the fastball pretty good early on. I think just in the sixth, they just got on me a little bit. Made a mistake to Mauricio there, and just got to be better second, third time through the order. Feel like I’m getting better, learning a few things. Confidence-builder tonight."
The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the inning on Holliday’s hit-by-pitch and singles from Westburg and Henderson. O’Hearn doubled, Laureano singled, and Clay Holmes was removed with the Orioles ahead 5-2.
Young hadn’t gone more than 4 2/3 innings in his first four major league starts. He struck out the side on nine pitches in the fifth, on two splits and a 95.6 mph fastball, for the Orioles’ first immaculate inning since Kevin Gausman in the seventh against Cleveland on April 23, 2018.
B.J. Ryan (1999), Mike Mussina (1998) and Jimmy Key (1998) also achieved the feat with the Orioles. O'Hearn chucked the ball into the crowd before realizing its importance. He traded a bat to retrieve it from a fan.
Young had no idea until injured catcher Chadwick Tromp informed him in the clubhouse.
"Significant?" Young said. "Yeah. Pretty cool, man. Pretty cool."
The Mets finally began to make loud contact in the sixth. Mauricio homered on a splitter and Baty’s double was 109.5 mph off the bat. Nimmo doubled into left-center field at 102.4.
Young retired the first eight batters before Baty’s groundball single in the third. He struck out three of the first four, including Nimmo on a 95.6 mph fastball and Juan Soto on a splitter.
Soto lined a single into right field with one out in the fourth and Alonso grounded into a 3-6-1 double play on Young’s 45th pitch.
"There’s a lot of confidence for him tonight," Mansolino said. "I think you guys saw the aura he kind of had on the mound. The presence he had on the mound is a little bit different. He had the little time on the IL, had a few starts in the minor leagues. I think he’s had two here in the big leagues, two or three, and it’s just kind of ticking up."
The game started 46 minutes late due to inclement weather, and neither team scored until Holliday’s two-out RBI single in the third. Holliday followed Sunday’s four-hit game with a bouncer into center field after Cedric Mullins walked with one out and advanced on Jacob Stallings’ grounder.
Holmes hadn’t allowed an earned run at Camden Yards in 14 2/3 innings before the third. And it got worse for him later.
At least his club could enjoy a win. The Orioles are 3-9 in games decided in the last at-bat. They lost when leading by at least four runs in the eighth inning for the first time since Aug. 8, 2023 against the Astros.
"I think, obviously, it sucks we couldn’t find a way to scratch a win there," O'Hearn said. "Any loss is disappointing, especially (how) tonight was a battle back and forth like that and we didn’t come out on top. I think the at-bats were pretty good against some good pitching and that one big inning was awesome. It was a battle, we just ... it’s baseball.
"I think there’s been games over the last couple of weeks that we probably should have won. Tonight feels like one of them right now, definitely disappointing. But I've said it a million times, we got another one tomorrow. Win the next two days, we win the series and we’re going to keep fighting. We'll be all right. So tonight's a tough one to swallow and in about an hour I'll be over it and show up tomorrow ready to rock.”
* Alex Jackson entered in the ninth, the 50th player used by the Orioles this season and the sixth catcher to tie the franchise record. It's been done four times.
* Triple-A Norfolk catcher Samuel Basallo hit his 17th homer, a three-run shot in the fourth inning, and added an RBI single. TT Bowens had a three-run shot in the fifth, his eighth homer this season.
Pitcher Nick Richmond was transferred from Norfolk to Double-A Chesapeake.
High-A Aberdeen pitcher Sebastian Gongora was placed on the seven-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation.
Ben Vespi struck out nine batters in 4 1/3 innings for Single-A Delmarva. He allowed four runs and six hits.
