BALTIMORE — Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea are scheduled for a return to the mound with the Mets this weekend, lessening the likelihood the team will have to endure the kind of sloppiness that defined Thursday evening.
Brandon Waddell and Justin Hagenman were utilized in a piggyback pitching appearance for Game 2 of a doubleheader, and neither had nearly enough success recording outs in a 7-3 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
That beatdown occurred hours after David Peterson pitched superbly into the eighth, but watched Ryne Stanek blow the save in a 3-1 loss in Game 1.
So much for the momentum that followed two victories in three games in the Subway Series last weekend and a comeback win against these Orioles on Tuesday.
The Mets were flat offensively in the doubleheader — they went a combined 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position — and simply were overmatched by a team that began the day 10 games below .500.
But with Senga and his 1.47 ERA scheduled for a return Friday in Kansas City, and Manaea, last year’s ace, slated to pitch as part of a piggyback with Clay Holmes on Sunday for his season debut, the Mets have a tangible reason to believe a strong final series before the All-Star Game is attainable.
“They are a big part of our team,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “To get those guys before the [All-Star] break is important for us. We are going to need them.”
Waddell started the nightcap and pitched three innings in which he surrendered three earned runs on four hits with one walk. Hagenman relieved Waddell and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, over two innings.
Beginning Friday, the Mets will have their rotation of Senga, Manaea, Holmes, David Peterson and Frankie Montas aligned for the first time this season.
“We have been looking for Sean this whole year,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We want him to stay healthy and do some of the stuff he did for us last year. Senga, when he’s out there he gives us a chance to win every time. You definitely like your chances with those guys going out there.”
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Waddell flushed a two-run lead in the third when Jordan Westburg’s two-run homer gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead. Alex Jackson doubled in a run before Westburg cleared the fence in left-center.
Colton Cowser delivered an RBI single in the fourth against Hagenman and Brett Baty’s fielding error brought in the Orioles’ fifth run. Hagenman and Richard Lovelady each allowed a run in the sixth.
Game 1 included a potential Mets casualty: Jesse Winker was removed after his first at-bat with back tightness, only two days removed from his return from the injured list following an oblique strain. Winker returned to New York for an MRI exam.
Negated was a strong performance by Peterson on a day he learned he had been selected to the NL All-Star team as a roster replacement for Robbie Ray. The left-hander pitched into the eighth and allowed one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts.
But Mendoza removed Peterson at 90 pitches after he surrendered a leadoff single to Cowser in the eighth and disaster followed: Stanek fell behind 2-1 to pinch-hitter Gunnar Henderson, who jumped on a slider for a two-run homer. Stanek proceeded to walk the bases loaded before Ramón Laureano’s sacrifice fly gave the Orioles an insurance run.
“[Peterson] got through the seventh and with the lefty leading off, I knew it was going to be batter-to-batter,” Mendoza said of his decision to remove his starter.
Mendoza added that he felt better with the idea of Stanek facing the Orioles’ lefty pinch-hitters than Peterson against the right-handers.
Peterson said he wasn’t surprised to get removed after allowing the leadoff single in the eighth — Mendoza had told him he would be aggressive in his approach to the inning. Even so, Peterson would have liked the opportunity to continue.
“I felt like I was in a good spot pitch-wise and I felt great physically,” Peterson said. “I figured he would give me a chance [after the leadoff single] or come to talk to me and see if I need a double play. But he made it clear that he was going to be aggressive and so I wasn’t surprised when he came out and made the signal.”
Stanek said mechanics were at the root of his meltdown.
“Based on what I have seen so far, I just got pretty rotational,” Stanek said. “I wasn’t really staying on line.”