The Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Mets 7–5 in 11 innings on Tuesday, 15 September, at Citi Field, ESPN, Reuters (Field Level Media), and Associated Press reported. Baltimore’s record after the win stood at 74–78, three games behind Cleveland for the final American League postseason spot on the Reuters FLM and CLEAR lock.
Pete Alonso tied the game in the ninth with his 300th career home run, a 414-foot solo drive off Kodai Senga against his former club, ESPN and AP said. Alonso, who hit a club-record 264 homers for the Mets before signing with the Orioles last December, was hitless in his first seven plate appearances of the series before the milestone shot with one out in the ninth, those accounts stated. The blast tied the score at 3. ESPN reported a crowd of 28,097 and a curtain call after fans chanted Alonso’s name; Reuters FLM also recorded the curtain call from the Citi Field crowd.
Coby Mayo snapped a 4–4 tie with a three-run inside-the-park home run in the 11th off Jonathan Pintaro (2-2), ESPN and AP reported. Mayo connected on an 0-2 pitch with two outs and sent a drive to center that glanced off rookie A.J. Ewing’s glove as Ewing crashed into the fence; the ball rolled away as Ewing fell, and Mayo circled the bases to score standing up, those wires said. The hit made a winner of Alex Hoppe (1-1). Andrew Kittredge recorded his 10th save after giving up an RBI single to Bo Bichette in the 11th and retiring Carson Benge on a fly to deep center, Reuters FLM reported.
Earlier scoring on Reuters FLM: Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeremiah Jackson homered in the second for Baltimore; Benge hit a solo homer in the third for New York. Mets relievers Austin Warren, Nate Lavender, and Senga nursed a 3–2 lead by combining to retire eight straight batters in relief of Sean Manaea before Alonso’s ninth-inning homer. The teams traded runs in the 10th: Encarnacion-Strand scored on a wild pitch for Baltimore, and Marcus Semien laced a one-out RBI double for the Mets, ESPN and Reuters said. Alonso struck out against Pintaro in the 11th before Mayo’s inside-the-parker.
Starter lines on Reuters FLM: Orioles starter Shane Baz allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in four-plus innings and left after being hit on the left arm by Bichette’s leadoff comebacker in the fifth. Manaea allowed two runs and four hits, walked none, and struck out six over 5⅓ innings. Juan Soto went 2-for-5 with an RBI; Jared Young doubled and lofted a sacrifice fly; Bichette had three hits. The Mets stood at 69–82 and 22–16 since the Aug. 3 trade deadline on that Reuters frame.
ESPN placed Alonso among a short historical list: the third player to hit his 300th home run against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games, after Willie Horton (Seattle vs. Detroit, 1979) and Torii Hunter (Detroit vs. Minnesota, 2013). Alonso received a two-minute tribute video before Monday’s 2–1 Orioles win at Citi Field, ESPN reported. Long Islanders Michael Shaw, Nick Maldarella, and Chris Makarius caught the 300th-homer ball and exchanged it with Alonso after the game for signed bats, balls, and jersey signatures, ESPN said.
Named actors locked to the wires: Alonso (300th HR, 414 ft, solo ninth vs. Senga); Mayo (three-run ITPHR, 11th, Pintaro/Ewing); Encarnacion-Strand, Jackson, Semien, Hoppe, Pintaro, Kittredge, Baz, Manaea, Soto, Bichette, Benge, Ewing; manager Craig Albernaz as quoted on ESPN. The desk does not invent wild-card tiebreaker paths beyond the published three-game gap to Cleveland. The checkable record is 7–5 in 11 at Citi Field, Alonso’s 300th, Mayo’s inside-the-parker, and Baltimore at 74–78.
What comes next is checkable: the Orioles–Mets series finale on the published MLB schedule; AL wild-card standings with Baltimore three games behind Cleveland; box scores for Tuesday’s 11-inning result on ESPN/MLB.
Floor: Orioles 7–5 Mets (11) at Citi Field; Alonso 300th HR 414-ft solo 9th vs Senga; Mayo 3-run ITPHR 11th off Pintaro after Ewing crashed into CF wall; BAL 74–78, 3 behind CLE.