BUST OUT IN BALTIMORE
METS BASH O’S FOR SEASON-HIGH 16 RUNS
BALTIMORE — Brandon Nimmo missed hitting for the cycle Wednesday night, but that was about the only Mets shortcoming.
Already with a single, double and triple when he came to the plate twice in the late innings, Nimmo was drilled by Sean Gilmartin’s pitch in the seventh and singled in the ninth, finishing with a huge night instead of a historic one in the Mets’ 16-5 demolition of the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Nimmo finished 5-for-5 — adding a second double and single to the first three components of the cycle — leading an 18-hit attack. Todd Frazier finished within a triple of the cycle in a 3-for-6 performance with four RBIs and Kevin Plawecki blasted his first career grand slam.
“The second-to-last at-bat I was thinking to possibly try get something elevated,” Nimmo said. “The next at-bat I was thinking if it was meant to happen it would happen and let’s just try to keep the same approach and I really was thinking five hits would be cool, too. Same with getting on base six times.”
The Mets, who have won three of four, will begin a fivegame series against the Phillies that includes a doubleheader Thursday and appearance in the Little League Classic on Sunday night in Williamsport, Pa.
Nimmo, whose five hits were a career best, entered play batting just .207 over his previous 41 games after a sizzling start to the season, but still owned a .378 on-base percentage for the season that
ranked 10th in the National League.
“He is learning that adjustments are necessary, and he’s making those adjustments,” manager Mickey Callaway said.
Zack Wheeler slogged through the humidity to pitch five innings in which he allowed one run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. It was Wheeler’s fifth straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer. The right-hander has a 1.41 ERA over that stretch, but Wednesday’s appearance snapped a streak of five games in which Wheeler lasted at least six innings.
Plawecki kicked the corpse, with a grand slam in the sixth that gave the Mets a 14-1 lead. The blast to left field highlighted a nine-run inning against four Orioles pitchers.
Nimmo’s fourth hit of the night, a two-run triple in the sixth, turned the game into a runaway. Nimmo scored on a wild pitch, extending the Mets’ lead to 8-1.
Orioles starter Dylan Bundy allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits over 5 ¹/3 innings. The Mets jumped Bundy with two runs in the first and scored twice in the fourth to go ahead, 4-1.
Frazier homered with two outs in the fifth, extending the Mets’ lead to 5-1. The blast was Frazier’s 12th of the season and second in three games.