Shane Baz lived dangerously for the Baltimore Orioles yesterday evening against the NY Mets at Citi Field. However I don’t think that either he nor the Birds expected him to exit early for the reason that he did. Which could be a huge problem. Baz’s line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K.
Baz loaded the bases with one down in the first. New York took a 1-0 lead on a sac fly-RBI by Young. However in a harbinger of things to come later, the Birds seized the lead right away. Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson each smacked solo home runs in the second, and the O’s led 2-1.
However an RBI-single by Soto in the bottom of the inning would tie the game. One inning later a solo homer by Benge would give New York a 3-2 lead. Baz never really got into a rhythm last night, but whatever rhythm he had ended in the top of the fifth. He took a Bichette come backer smack off of his right elbow. 105 MPH off the bat.
Manager Craig Albernaz immediately came out with the training staff. Baz attempted to throw a pitch, but it sailed to the backstop and he was immediately lifted. Baz said after the game that he hoped to avoid the IL. You have to hope it’s one of those things that looked worse than it was.
Of course many in the crowd came to Citi Field to see Pete Alonso – their former first baseman, who they miss desperately. Alonso also came into Queens with 299 career home runs. So his ninth inning solo homer was huge in the grand scheme of the game, given that it was an equalizer. But…
…it was magically fitting that his 300th homer came in the ballpark and in front of the fans where he played for so many years. The people who still have so much affection for him – and he for them. Moreso than any other sport, sometimes baseball gives us little moments like that which just make sense.
The game went to extra’s, and Gunnar Henderson’s leadoff single put runners at the corners in the tenth – with the ghost runner (Christian Encarnacion-Strand) going to third. Encarnacion-Strand would later score on a wild pitch, giving the Birds a 4-3 lead. However New York tied it in the bottom of the inning when their ghost runner scored on a groundout.
We went to the eleventh, and Dylan Beavers drew a walk to put two runners on. Coby Mayo came to the plate, looking to do damage. Needing to do damage. So he sent a deep fly ball to dead center field. The ball smacked off of a combination of the wall and the fielder’s glove, and trickled out into the field…
…and it just died. It stopped rolling, light years away from any fielder. By the time New York’s entire outfield converged on the ball and got it back in, Coby Mayo had himself a three-run inside-the-park home run.
Needless to say, that was the game. New York would get one back in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by Bichette, but the Mayo homer was the game’s climax. You can’t come back from a moment like that. Call it a side of Mayo for the Polar Bear.
The series concludes tonight at Citi Field. Chris Bassitt gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Robert Stock. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 