BALTIMORE — Gunnar Henderson’s two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever Ryne Stanek turned the tide on the Mets in a 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of their doubleheader on Thursday from Camden Yards.
O’s starter Charlie Morton entered Thursday 5-0 across his last 10 appearances with a 2.76 ERA. But the Mets (53-40) — who scored 23 runs over their past three games — came in with 20 home runs hit against the 41-year-old during his career, seven more than any other team. Morton, who lost his first six starts this season, continued his resurgence with one run allowed across six innings. He was outdueled for the majority of the game, though.
David Peterson stifled the Orioles until the eighth inning. Following a Colton Cowser leadoff single, manager Carlos Mendoza pulled the southpaw after 90 pitches and brought in Stanek to preserve the one-run advantage. Gunnar Henderson, the first batter Stanek faced, blasted his first-career pinch-hit home run, batting in place of Luis Vázquez.
“He got through the seventh, the lefty leading off [in the eighth], I knew again it was going to be batter-to-batter,” Mendoza said of the decision to pull Peterson.
Henderson’s 400-foot blast, along with a Ramón Laureano sacrifice-fly later in the frame, gave Baltimore the two-run win. Stanek walked four batters and threw only 11 of 31 pitches for strikes.
Stanek said he wanted the slider that Henderson homered off to be more low and inside. Instead, it bled over the heart of the plate and took away from Peterson’s dominant effort.
Despite not earning the victory, Peterson allowed only one earned run for the second-straight game in July, coming off a June where he recorded a 4.55 ERA. He mixed in five pitches against a lineup that ranks in the middle of the majors in OPS against lefties this season, racking up six strikeouts en route to becoming the Mets’ punchout leader in 2025.
“I felt like I was in a good spot, pitch-wise, physically,” Peterson said about being pulled in the eighth. He added that he thought Mendoza might speak with him or give him a shot at another batter since Cowser’s single was an opposite-field hit.
The 29-year-old’s defense was also key in his strong performance.
In the fourth inning, Laureano blooped a single into center field, leading to Jordan Westburg attempting to advance to third. But Tyrone Taylor, New York’s outfield-leader in defensive WAR, threw a strike to gun down Westburg. Brandon Nimmo made a sliding grab in left field with Laureano on third and two outs to keep the game scoreless.
During the next half-inning, Taylor led a Mets’ breakthrough.
The 31-year-old, who entered Thursday hitting .138 across his last 25 games, drilled a double down the right-field line. Brett Baty, who walked and stole second, scored easily to give New York a lead after it squandered opportunities early.
In the first inning, Nimmo singled on Morton’s first pitch before Francisco Lindor walked, and a passed ball allowed both to advance into scoring position with no outs. Then, Morton went to his curveball, which he used a season-high 43 times against the Braves in his last start.
Juan Soto and Pete Alonso both struck out, followed by a Jesse Winker popout to shortstop, on the off-speed pitch. Morton threw his curveball 50 times and navigated trouble multiple times, with help from his defense.
Vázquez made a diving play at shortstop to rob Alonso of a single with Lindor in scoring position in the third inning. In the next frame, Mark Vientos, who has struggled since returning from the injured list in late June, rocketed a ball to the warning track in left field that Laureano jumped to snag.
Vientos pinch-hit for Winker, who started at designated hitter and left due to back tightness during just his second appearance since early May, due to an oblique injury. Vientos notched two knocks, his first multi-hit game since he returned from injury in late May.
“He’s a good hitter, just going through it,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully, that game kind of gets him going.”
Peterson’s own defensive ability helped him push through the sixth inning. With one out, the southpaw picked off Jackson Holliday with a lightning-quick throw.
He advanced through the seventh inning easily, but the leadoff single in the next frame proved costly. The Mets’ bullpen, off a comeback win where they allowed just one run across five innings, reverted to the woes that have plagued them for much of the past month.
Closer Edwin Díaz has locked down 18 of 19 save opportunities for New York this season. But the Mets have struggled to find a reliable setup man for him, as Thursday’s opening game proved in major fashion.
