It was the unknown bat of Henry Urrutia who ended the game in the bottom of the ninth.
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Urrutia crushed Torres’ second pitch of the night, sending it into the left-center field stands for the walkoff win.
Then Wilmer Flores extended the lead to two with an RBI single in the fourth. And Murphy added an additional RBI-single in the fifth to run their lead to 3-1.
Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three runs, five hits and four walks in five innings. That gave the Orioles a split of the two-game series and their fifth win in six games. The rookie is 7-1 with a 1.82 ERA at home and 0-5 with a 5.01 ERA on the road. He was activated from the DL on Wednesday following a shoulder injury suffered in his season debut on April 10.
“Sometimes I get ready way too quickly, I need a couple of warm-up pitches, once I get into the game to get things going again and get a feel for the mound”, Syndergaard said.
“I’m not waiting for a baseball when I made the homer”, Urrutia told reporters after the game. “I feel like this was a step in the right direction as far as being more comfortable out there”. Urrutia hit decently in the minors, posting a.292/.344/.414 batting line with 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 474 plate appearances, and could be worth a shot for those in AL-only leagues.
Syndergaard went out to warm up later and came in to the dugout about two minutes before first pitch.
Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy had a pair of hits, including his ninth home run.
The Mets will take a blow with no game on Thursday before heading to Colorado for a three-game set beginning Friday night.
Adam Jones walked to load the bases after Manny Machado and Gerardo Parra had doubled and singled in succession.
After a brief chat with catcher Travis d’Arnaud, however, Syndergaard battled back. After Chris Davis stole third uncontested with one out, Syndergaard fired a 98-mph missile past J.J. Hardy, who took strike three, and Urrutia was retired to end the inning.
The strikeout of Davis was the first of eight consecutive outs Syndergaard recorded before allowing a leadoff double to Jones to begin the fourth.
Syndergaard, mindful of both of his bugaboos, asked the Mets if he could alter his pregame routine. In his 17 previous starts, Syndergaard had pitched the sixth 13 times, he has allowed nine runs and four home runs in those.
Billy Burns hit a tying double for Oakland in the sixth then scored the go-ahead run on Danny Valencia’s double-play grounder two batters later.
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The bad news is that the Mets may very well have identified why he struggles on the road, so tonight we will have the good fortune to experience possibly the first Syndergaard road start where he’s not pre-disposed to suck. Logan Verrett, who was recalled Tuesday to replace Bobby Parnell, was called in as Syndergaard departed after 96 pitches.
