NEW YORK — James McCann doesn’t waste opportunities to remind the New York Mets of what they gave up when they traded him to the Orioles two years ago. Making his return to Citi Field on Tuesday, the veteran catcher homered and drove in three runs to lead a 9-5 victory.

McCann, 34, signed a four-year, $40.6 million free agent contract with the Mets ahead of the 2021 season but only made it halfway through the deal before New York traded him to Baltimore. As part of the trade, the Mets agreed to pay $19 million of the $24 million left on his contract, including $8 million toward his 2024 salary, according to The Associated Press.

After going 4-for-6 with five RBIs in two games against them last year, McCann once again haunted his former team by launching a two-run homer to the second deck in the fourth inning.

His swing helped fuel a breakout night for the Orioles’ offense, which got out to a big enough lead to withstand a late comeback attempt. Baltimore (74-53) tallied seven of its runs against starter Jose Quintana over the first five innings to open a 7-1 lead that was trimmed to two before the Mets threw away any hopes of making a comeback with two errors on one play in the ninth.

The shadow cast on the Orioles’ dugout by the pregame announcement that starter Zach Eflin was being placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation faded quickly when Anthony Santander launched a two-run home run in the top of the first to give Baltimore an early lead. The Orioles’ switch hitter is up to 37 homers on the year, tying the Atlanta Braves’ Marcel Ozuna for the third most in the majors behind superstars Aaron Judge (45) and Shohei Ohtani (39).

Dean Kremer, a suddenly vital piece of their starting rotation amid their slew of pitcher injuries, followed up his impressive last outing against the Washington Nationals with another quality start in Queens. With left-hander Cole Irvin being called up from Triple-A Norfolk to start Wednesday after Eflin’s injury, the Orioles needed innings from their right-hander and he delivered by allowing one run on two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over six innings. His 100 pitches on the night marked just the fourth time he’s reached the century mark this season.

The Mets scored their lone run against him in the third. Kremer walked the first two batters of the inning and nearly worked his way out of the jam, coming within one strike of escaping, but third baseman Mark Vientos lined an RBI double into the left field corner on a 1-2 pitch. However, Kremer was otherwise dominant, recording back-to-back starts with one run or fewer allowed for the first time since Aug. 29 and Sept. 5, 2023.

His offense provided plenty of run support behind him. In addition to showing some power, the Orioles also benefited from the hustle and smart base running of Colton Cowser. Baltimore’s rookie outfielder got his night started with a fly ball to deep left field in the second. The Mets’ Brandon Nimmo nearly made a juggling catch, but a replay review showed the ball hit the outfield wall before he could come up with it. Cowser ran all the way to third on the play and scored on a sacrifice fly by McCann two batters later.

Cowser then doubled his next time up and created another run by scoring from second on a ball Ramón Urías hit right in front of the plate. Urías hit a dribbler up the first base line that Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez couldn’t pick up in time. Cowser then rounded third and saw Alvarez stumble trying to pick up the ball, taking the opportunity to run all the way home.

The Orioles tacked on one more run in the fifth on an RBI double by Eloy Jiménez. After scoring only eight runs over their last three games combined, the Orioles put up seven in five innings to take control of the game early enough to set up their bullpen however manager Brandon Hyde wanted. Cionel Pérez pitched a scoreless seventh and Burch Smith followed him for the eighth.

Smith ran into trouble quickly when shortstop Francisco Lindor moved into scoring position with a one-out double — his second of the game. After Gunnar Henderson booted a ground ball by Vientos for his 19th error of the season, Nimmo followed with an RBI double and designated hitter J.D. Martinez crushed his second homer in as many nights to make it 7-5.

With Seranthony Domínguez unavailable after pitching the last two nights and Craig Kimbrel still struggling to return to form, Hyde turned to Cano for a save situation in the eighth. The sinkerballer stopped the Mets’ rally in its tracks by retiring Pete Alonso and Harrison Bader to end the inning.

Cano went back out for the ninth but not until after the Orioles pushed a pair of insurance runs across on a series of poor throws by New York’s defenders. With two runners aboard, Henderson singled to left on a low line drive Nimmo couldn’t reach. He tried to throw Cedric Mullins out at home but sailed it wide, forcing pitcher Danny Young to back up the play.

Young then threw to third hoping to get Ryan Mountcastle, but he threw the ball into left field. Mountcastle scored and Henderson made it all the way to third. By the time the play was over, four Mets had touched the ball, including Nimmo twice.

Cano went back out for the ninth and retired one batter before turning the game over to Kimbrel, who got Jeff McNeil to fly out and struck out Tyrone Taylor for his first scoreless outing since Aug. 6.