New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Red Sox lose to Orioles again, tied for second AL wild card
BALTIMORE — The Boston Red Sox were dealt another blow in their postseason push by last-place Baltimore, with Ryan Mountcastle hitting a three-run homer in the third inning of the Orioles’ 6-2 win Thursday night.
Baltimore has lost 107 games this year but took two of three in this series against Boston — welcome news for the Yankees, Blue
Jays and Mariners. The Red Sox fell into a tie with Seattle for the American League’s second wild card. Boston trails the Yankees by 2 games and leads the Blue Jays by 1 game.
Kike Hernandez homered on the first pitch of the game for the Red Sox, but not much went right for them after that. Mountcastle put Baltimore up 3-1 with his 33rd home run of the season, and the Orioles added three more runs in the sixth.
Boston’s Nick Pivetta (9-8) struck out the side in the first, but he ultimately allowed three runs and four hits in 4 2⁄3innings.
He struck out eight with two walks.
Alexander Wells (2-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings after entering the game with a 7.61 ERA.
This wasn’t as bad as 2011, when the Red Sox allowed two runs in the ninth inning at Baltimore and were eliminated on the final night of the regular season. That collapse ended manager Terry Francona’s tenure in Boston.
A decade later, the Orioles were a thorn in Boston’s side again, but the Red Sox still have time to recover when they finish the regular season with a series at Washington.
Boston pitchers threw four wild pitches in this game. Two of them came in the sixth, when the Red Sox also made an error. Tyler Nevin gave the Orioles a 5-1 lead with a tworun single, and Pat Valaika followed with a sacrifice fly.
METS 12, MARLINS 3
NEW YORK — Michael Conforto hit a pair of runscoring singles, doubled and made a shoestring catch in what might have been his final game at Citi Field for the Mets, and New York routed Miami.
Pete Alonso homered twice for the Mets, raising his season total to 37 — just 12 at Citi Field. The second came off catcher Sandy Leon in a six-run eighth inning after Francisco Lindor connected off Luis Madero for his fourth career grand slam and
ninth home run of September.
Manager Luis Rojas, nearing the end of New York’s disappointing first season under new owner Steven Cohen, also might have been at his final home game. New York finished 47-34 at Citi Field and headed to Atlanta with a 29-49 mark on the road, assured of a losing record for the fourth time in five years.
Conforto, the 10th overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft, acknowledged having trouble sleeping ahead of his home finale before free agency. He is hitting .228 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs and is making $12.25 million.
Fans gave him a standing ovation after he ran in to make a tumbling, shoestring catch on Joe Panik in the ninth. He raised a hand and tapped his heart, his eyes reddening, and he started crying when he got to the dugout and was hugged after the final out.
With team president Sandy Alderson preparing to hire a new baseball operations head, Rojas, Conforto and right-hander Noah Syndergaard face uncertain futures.
Brian McCann ended an 0-for-16 slide with a goahead, two-run double in a four-run fourth inning off rookie Sean Guenther
(0-1).
Guenther, who lost his first big league decision, entered when starter Edward Cabrera left due to a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
Rich Hill gained his first win in 13 appearances with the Mets, who acquired the 41-year-old left-hander in July from Tampa Bay. Hill (1-4 with the Mets and 7-8 overall) allowed three runs.