Field Level Media
Aug 15, 2018
Kevin Plawecki hit a grand slam, Todd Frazier also homered and drove in four runs, and Brandon Nimmo went 5-for-5 with three RBIs as the New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles 16-5 on Wednesday night at Oriole Park.
The Mets scored early but broke the game open with a nine-run sixth inning, sending 12 batters to the plate. Plawecki's grand slam, off rookie right-hander Evan Phillips, was the inning's big blow.
Plawecki finished with four RBIs while Frazier went 3-for-6 with his four RBIs, and Nimmo reached base six times (he was hit by a pitch in his other plate appearance). Frazier and Nimmo each finished one hit shy of the cycle. Wilmer Flores added a two-run homer in the ninth and finished with three RBIs.
The sixth-inning explosion let New York manager Mickey Callaway pull starter Zack Wheeler after five innings. Wheeler (8-6), who has won six consecutive starts, allowed one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out three.
New York finished with 10 extra-base hits -- four doubles, three triples and three homers. The Mets ended up with 19 hits overall.
Dylan Bundy (7-11) has stumbled of late, and the Baltimore starter found more trouble in this game. He gave up seven runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The right-hander's problems began quickly as the Mets scored two in the first inning. Nimmo led off with a single and moved to third when Jeff McNeil followed with a single.
Nimmo then scored on a Flores sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead three batters into the game. McNeil went to second on that play and scored when Frazier blooped a double into short right field with two outs.
Adam Jones cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first with his RBI single.
But the Mets added two more in the fourth. Austin Jackson tripled to start the inning and scored on a Jose Bautista single. A double play later, Jose Reyes tripled and scored when Nimmo followed with a double for a 4-1 lead.
Frazier hit a two-out solo homer to left in the fifth off Bundy that stretched the lead to 5-1 before the Mets turned it into a laugher an inning later. The Mets' nine-run inning included four walks, a hit batter, two doubles, a triple and Plawecki's slam.
The Orioles added four late runs, two coming on a Jonathan Villar homer in the eighth inning, his eighth of the season.
--Field Level Media