NEW YORK — James McCann homered and drove in three runs against his former team to help power the Baltimore Orioles past the New York Mets 9-5 on Tuesday night. Anthony Santander opened the scoring in the first inning with his 37th homer, a two-run shot off struggling Jose Quintana (6-9). Ramón Urías and Eloy Jiménez also had RBIs for the Orioles, who moved into first place in the AL East by a half-game over the New York Yankees when they lost to Cleveland in 12 innings across town in the Bronx.
Dean Kremer (6-9), pitching hours after Zach Eflin became the sixth Baltimore starter to go on the injured list, permitted just two hits and struck out seven in six innings. "Stressful day and a little bit of a stressful evening," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. "It's going to take a team effort every single night.
I was happy with how our guys were really locked in tonight." McCann, traded by the Mets to Baltimore following the 2022 season, had a sacrifice fly in the second and a two-run homer into the second deck in left field in the fourth. He is 5 for 9 with eight RBIs in 11 plate appearances over three games against New York since last year.
"Anytime you're facing a team that you previously played for, I think that there's always a little extra," Hyde said. "I know that homer felt good. Beautiful swing.
It ended up being a huge hit for us." McCann signed a $40.6 million, four-year contract with the Mets in December 2020 but hit just .
220 with 13 homers in 182 games for.