Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.
Try it freeBALTIMORE — Trying to survive Thursday afternoon on one run was never a good idea for the Mets, only underscored by the hanging slider Ryne Stanek threw to Gunnar Henderson in the eighth inning.
Henderson crushed it. The Orioles fans who had mostly been drowned out by a large contingent of Mets supporters for the previous two hours finally got to roar.
As Juan Soto looked up, Henderson’s shot disappeared into the right-field seats for a two-run homer that helped send the Mets to a 3-1 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Camden Yards.
This one included a potential 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.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that Winker is heading back to New York for an MRI.
Negated was a strong performance by David Peterson in his final start before the All-Star break.
The left-hander pitched seven-plus innings and allowed one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts.
After Peterson returned for the eighth and allowed a Colton Cowser leadoff single, Stanek entered and fell behind 2-1 to the pinch-hitter Henderson, who unloaded for his 11th homer of the season.
Stanek proceeded to walk the bases loaded before Ramon Laureano’s sacrifice fly gave the Orioles an insurance run.
The right-hander’s work has been choppy this season, but over his previous seven appearances he had allowed only one earned run.
The Mets, who lost for the second time in three games, went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Tyrone Taylor stroked an RBI double in the fifth for the Mets’ lone run.
Brett Baty drew a leadoff walk against Charlie Morton in the inning before Taylor delivered to snap an 0-for-17 drought. Taylor hadn’t driven in a run over his previous nine games.
The veteran Morton limited the Mets to one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks over six innings. The right-hander threw a season-high 104 pitches.
The Mets wasted chances early. Brandon Nimmo singled leading off the game and Francisco Lindor walked — both advanced bases on a passed ball with no outs — but Morton recorded three outs without a run scoring.
In the third, Lindor singled with two outs and Soto reached on Jackson Holliday’s fielding error before Pete Alonso grounded out to end the threat.
Peterson’s pickoff of Holliday at first base in the sixth helped maintain his 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Taylor threw out Jordan Westburg attempting to advance first to third on Laureano’s single.