3 Orioles hit homers in back-to-back games, leading to win vs. Mets

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NEW YORK — It was as easy as one, two, three — runs of that quantity in the first, second and third innings. The balls each left the field of play in a hurry, on a fly, in quick succession against Mets right-hander Xzavion Curry.

First was Pete Alonso, who throttled the 301st home run of his career for a first-inning solo shot.

Next was Jeremiah Jackson, with a two-run shot in the second inning.

And finally, in the third inning, Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s two-run homer immediately preceded the walloped solo shot from Samuel Basallo that created a mighty Orioles lead in the series finale at Citi Field.

Behind that power display, Baltimore went on to sweep New York with Wednesday’s 7-1 victory. And, with homers from Alonso, Jackson and Encarnacion-Strand, the same trio of Orioles homered in back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 18-19, 2016, according to Elias Sports Bureau (Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo).

“I’m never opposed to four home runs,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “There were a lot of good things on the offensive side.”

The Orioles discovered it can be worse — they could be the Mets, who are eliminated from postseason contention.

To be fair, the Orioles could join them next week. But the ignominious American League has left Baltimore more margin for error, which means the Orioles are still alive with nine games remaining. Who the Orioles are chasing altered Wednesday, as the Cleveland Guardians moved ahead of the Chicago White Sox for the American League Central lead.

That, in a small way, helps Baltimore’s chances. The Orioles hold the season tiebreaker over the White Sox. But, before the Orioles can really consider that, they must make up ground on Chicago and the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers (the latter two own tiebreakers over the Orioles, although there are three more games against Toronto to change that).

Baltimore’s playoff odds, according to FanGraphs, are about 3%. That’s not great. But that’s the reality of a 75-78 team that remains 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot with the need of jumping three teams in a nine-game span.

Possible? Yes. Likely? Absolutely not.

Still, there is something for which to play at this late juncture of the season, and the Orioles took care of their business against the Mets — even though Baltimore didn’t do enough earlier this year to improve their slow march toward Game 162.

“We’ve just got to take it one day at a time. Win against whoever’s in front of us that day, go 1-0 every single day,” Alonso said. “You can’t look too far ahead, especially where we’re at right now. You can’t look in your crystal ball. ... It’s just doing everything necessary to win the game that night. It doesn’t matter if it looks good, doesn’t matter if it looks ugly. Got to win each night.”

The long ball was the Orioles’ path on offense, and it gave right-hander Chris Bassitt more than enough run support in what turned into one of his best outings this season.

Bassitt, who pitched for the Mets in 2022, didn’t receive the same robust reception Alonso did all series. But he reminded New York anyway of what it could have had. Bassitt tied his season high by pitching 6 2/3 innings, with one run against him.

“I think we’re seeing what he’s always been capable of,” Basallo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones.

Since returning from back surgery in August, Bassitt has recaptured his best. The 37-year-old has a 3.76 ERA in his last seven starts.

“I just think, really since I’ve come back from surgery, I really just think every single start I’ve felt better and better,” Bassitt said. “Every single start, I feel like I’m building on. So, yeah, I’m happy with where I’m at physically, and then obviously just working on the baseball side, it’s made it easier.”

But this also was a showcase of what Encarnacion-Strand has brought to the Orioles since arriving from the minors in July. He recorded his first three extra-base-hit game of the year, although one double was a bloop that should’ve been caught. It still counts, however, and his OPS is up to .846 in this 51-game sample.

After Encarnacion-Strand’s second double, which came in the top of the ninth, Basallo delivered another RBI through his line-drive single.

Encarnacion-Strand and others have supplemented what Alonso has done this year: 37 homers and 102 RBIs.

In the American League, those 102 RBIs are the most. And they are the most RBIs from an Orioles player through 153 games since Jonathan Schoop managed 105 in that span in 2017.

“I really just don’t think Pete gets enough respect for how actually good he is offensively,” Bassitt said. “You can argue what statistics you want to look at, but I think he’s a top-three hitter, for sure, in the American League. And, if you brought that all the way back from today to his rookie year, I think he’s still that. So he’s a top-three talent. He is literally one of the best hitters that we have. So am I surprised that Pete does this? No, because he’s literally that good. It’d be hard for Pete to surprise me, just because, like I said, I genuinely have Pete a top-three hitter, so I expect top-three hitters to put on a show.”

Alonso did just that in New York, against his former club, while Mets fans chanted his name. And, because of that, the Orioles remain alive.

These sorts of performances have ensured that much. If anything else is to come this season — and there isn’t much time to manage it — Alonso and Co. must find a similar level over the final nine games.

Shortly after the game, Bassitt addressed the room. He told his teammates to throw out the playoff odds, to throw out how many games back Baltimore finds itself.

“You just got to approach every single day the same way. You can’t look at the standings,” Bassitt said.

It sets up a fascinating nine-game season of sorts in which the Orioles need to win just about every game to have a chance. And, even then, it may not be enough.

“It’s going to be interesting, fun,” Albernaz said. “We unfortunately put ourselves in this position, but we’re still playing meaningful games down the stretch, and for us, that’s what we ask for. Our guys, they’re still competing. They don’t waver, and we’re still in it.”

This article has been updated.