Rookie third-string catcher Patrick Mazeika delivered his second unusual walk-off RBI of the homestand Tuesday night as the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2.
Jonathan Villar beat the throw home on Mazeika's grounder to first to score the winning run and give the Mets their sixth straight win.
The Orioles have lost four of five.
Kevin Pillar almost tied the game leading off the ninth against Cesar Valdez (2-1), but his fly ball down the left field line hooked just foul. Pillar battled Valdez in an eight-pitch at-bat before singling under the glove of third baseman Maikel Franco.
Villar followed with a single before James McCann struck out. Dominic Smith tied the game with an RBI single to right.
Mazeika, the last batter on the Mets' bench, grounded to first on the eighth pitch he saw from Valdez. Villar, a former stolen-base champion who played with the Orioles in 2018 and '19, raced home and slid in ahead of the throw.
Mazeika's 10th-inning dribbler in front of the mound scored the winning run Friday in a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has three RBIs -- but no hits -- in four big-league plate appearances.
The rally made a winner of Jeurys Familia (1-0), who threw a scoreless ninth, and cost Orioles starter John Means the win in his first start following his no-hitter on May 5 against the Seattle Mariners. Means threw six shutout innings Tuesday.
Means' bid for a second straight no-hitter lasted just four pitches before Jeff McNeil laced a clean leadoff single. The southpaw surrendered six hits, walked none and struck out three as he lowered his ERA to an American League-leading 1.21.
He also became the first pitcher to not allow a run in his first start following a no-hitter since Edinson Volquez tossed seven scoreless innings for the Miami Marlins in 2017.
The Orioles went ahead in the seventh when Pat Valaika, pinch-hitting for Means, lofted a sacrifice fly. Freddy Galvis added a two-out RBI bunt single in the eighth before the Mets began coming back in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Michael Conforto.
Mets starter Marcus Stroman allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings.
--Field Level Media
Baltimore | NY Mets | |
John Means | Player | Marcus Stroman |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 6.1 |
3 | Strikeouts | 5 |
6 | Hits | 5 |
0.00 | ERA | 1.42 |
Baltimore | NY Mets | |
Freddy Galvis | Player | Jeff McNeil |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | 1.000 |