Syndergaard Still Winless On Road; Mets' Lead Shrinks To 3.5 Games
BALTIMORE (CBSNewYork/AP) — One streak ended, one streak remained intact.
Neither of those developments was good for the New York Mets.
Henry Urrutia broke a ninth-inning tie with his first major league home run, and the Mets' nine-game winning streak against the Baltimore Orioles vanished with a 5-4 defeat Wednesday night.
Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones also homered for the Orioles, who hadn't defeated the Mets since June 18, 2009.
New York sent rookie Noah Syndergaard to the mound in hopes of extending its domination of Baltimore. Instead, the right-hander stretched his streak of winless starts on the road to nine.
Long after Syndergaard departed — he went five-plus innings — Urrutia led off the ninth with a drive into the seats in left field off Carlos Torres (4-5).
"It's exactly where we wanted it," Torres said. "We called a fastball up. We threw the fastball up. These guys have unfortunately been seeing Syndergaard and (Jason) DeGrom, so my fastball up probably didn't seem like their fastball up."
Zach Britton (4-0) worked the ninth for Baltimore.
New York still leads the all-time series 22-10, but this one hurt because it stalled the Mets' bid to solidify their hold on first place in the NL East. The Washington Nationals pulled within 3 1/2 games with a win in Colorado.
Syndergaard gave up three runs and eight hits. He had a 3-1 lead in the sixth before yielding a double to Chris Davis and Schoop's home run.
And so, Synderguard remains 7-1 at home and 0-5 on the road.
"I feel like with the exception of the first inning, it was a pretty solid performance," Syndergaard said. "I've been a little bit concerned about my performances on the road. I feel like this was a step in the right direction as far as being more comfortable out there."
Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores both homered and had two RBIs for the Mets, who have lost four of five.
After Schoop made it 3-3 in the sixth with a two-run homer, Flores put New York up 4-3 in the seventh with a solo shot off rookie Mychal Givens.
Jones answered in the bottom half, connecting off Hansel Robles to even the score.
Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three runs, five hits and four walks in five innings.
After Murphy homered in the top of the first, Syndergaard walked to the mound eager to see if an adjustment in his pregame workout would increase his effectiveness. Because he had given up 10 first-inning runs in 17 starts, the right-hander pushed back his warmup session in the bullpen to lessen the down time before his first pitch.
"It helped gets things going," Syndergaard said. "There wasn't a whole lot of sitting around. I just had a battle in that first inning."
Manny Machado doubled on the first pitch and the Orioles quickly loaded the bases with no outs. Syndergaard then struck out Davis on a 3-2 pitch, and after Schoop bounced into a double play, Syndergaard pumped his fist before heading to the dugout.
New York made it 2-0 in the fourth when Jimenez issued three walks and Flores delivered a two-out RBI single.
After Steve Clevenger hit a run-scoring single in the bottom half, a double by Curtis Granderson and a single by Murphy put the Mets up 3-1 in the fifth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: 3B David Wright (spinal stenosis) will be activated from the DL next week, Collins said. ... OF Yeonis Cespedes played DH after complaining of a sore right shoulder. He did not receive treatment for the injury.
Orioles: OF Steve Pearce's bid to return from a strained left oblique was stalled when he got hit in the back by a pitch in Florida. ... RHP Chaz Roe (right shoulder tendinitis) threw off flat ground Wednesday.
ON DECK
Mets: After a day off Thursday, New York sends Bartolo Colon (10-11, 4.58 ERA) to the mound Friday night in Colorado in the opener of a three-game series.
Orioles: Winless in his last four starts, Miguel Gonzalez (9-8, 4.42 ERA) faces the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night to launch a four-game series.
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