7,546: K-Rod blows save to waste strong Livan start

This is getting old

Francisco Rodriguez blew his first second save of the second Thursday night (Castillo’s dropped popup was the first) as the Mets wasted a strong start by Livan Hernandez with a 5-4 loss at Camden Yards.

After Matt Wieters led off the inning with a double, K-Rod walked Nolan Reimold and Brian Roberts laid down a bunt in an attempt to advance the runners. Mets’ catcher Omir Santos grabbed the ball and threw a strike to third, but pinch runner Felix Pie beat out the throw to load the bases with no outs.

Rodriguez walked Adam Jones to tie the game, and after a strikeout, Huff lined a single to right for the walk-off win.

Hernandez pitched 7 innings, giving up two earned runs on eight hits and one walk. He lost his no-hitter in the second inning when Melvin Mora singled to right center field, advancing our NoNoHitters.com county to 7,545 New York Mets games without a no-no.

Orioles starter Jason Berken stymied the Mets early, holding them to no runs on just one hit through five, as Berken’s offense built him a 2-0 lead. Mets second-baseman Luis Castillo helped limit the damage by snagging a Huff bases-loaded liner to end the fifth inning.

David Wright got the Mets on the scoreboard in the sixth by hitting a sacrifice fly to score Alex Cora (who led off the inning with a single), and Ryan Church knocked home Carlos Beltran with a single to right to tie the game at 2.

Cora again started a rally in the seventh by singling and stealing second. Daniel Murphy knocked him in with a double, and Beltran singled Murphy home to make it 4-2.

The O’s fought back for a run in the bottom of the eighth. After Aubrey Huff doubled to right off Pedro Feliciano, Mora moved him over to third with a single off Sean Green. Luke Scott hit a ball into the hole between first and second, but Castillo made a diving grab and threw to first for a key out, although Huff was able to score. Green struck out former Met Ty Wigginton on a sweet breaking ball to preserve the Mets’ lead and send it to the ninth.

We won’t rehash the ninth again.

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