BALTIMORE -- If Brandon Nimmo was going to hit for the cycle Wednesday, the opportunity presented itself in his fifth plate appearance, when Sean Gilmartin looped a 78-mph slider into the strike zone. Already 4-for-4 on the night, Nimmo fouled it off, then reached base one pitch later when Gilmartin hit him with a fastball.
By his sixth and final trip to the plate in the Mets' 16-5 win over the Orioles, Nimmo figured, "if it's meant to happen, it will happen."
"I really was thinking, 'Five hits would be cool, too,'" Nimmo said. "So when I got the hit, I was ecstatic."
Capping his career-best night at the plate with a single in the ninth, Nimmo finished 5-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, two singles and a hit-by-pitch. Since Tuesday, he has reached base safely in nine consecutive plate appearances, eclipsing the stretch of eight straight he strung together earlier this season.

"Nights like these, you just want to bottle them up and live in them forever," Nimmo said. "Because it's pretty special."
Between Nimmo's streak in May and the one he's currently riding was a 36-game stretch in which he batted .172, losing more than 50 points off his batting average. One of the season's early breakout performers, Nimmo fell victim to the scouting reports of opposing pitchers, who began attacking him up-and-inside more frequently. A bruised right pinkie also seemed to affect Nimmo, who fell into a 1-for-20 stretch after getting hit on that digit with a pitch.

But Nimmo has broken back out in recent days, going 4-for-7 on Monday and Tuesday before his five-hit night at Camden Yards. Singling and scoring in the first inning, Nimmo hit doubles in both the third and fourth off Orioles starter Dylan Bundy. He then sparked a nine-run barrage in the sixth inning with a two-run triple, before capping his evening with another single.

In just three games, Nimmo has gained 18 points back onto his batting average, which now sits at .263.
"He's weathered the storm," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "He had some breaking balls in one of his at-bats tonight that he kind of figured out what the plan was. He combated that and got a hit. Then they tried to elevate, and he did a good job in that at-bat. He's learning adjustments are necessary and he's making those adjustments."